Empress in the shadows reworked
by Seneth
Summary: This is the story of a sane Goa'uld, her rise to power and the birth of her empire. Rework of Voider's fanfiction. AU
1. Birth of Lilith

The Empress in the Shadows

**AN : So as you can see, I finally dared to write a rework of Voider's infamous 'Empress in the shadows'. This idea was floating around in my head for several months already, and it's just recently that I finally dared to do so. For those who have read the original version, I plan to make several changes in my new version.**

**First and bigger of them all, is the timeline. I want to integrate Lilith with the mythological figure that she was. She first appeared around 3000 BC in the Mesopotamian mythology, so I made it so that Lilith was born far earlier compared to Voider's version. An unintended, yet still necessary, consequence is that the Tok'ra movement is older too, so the Tok'ra will certainly play a bigger role, at least until Ra gets his hands on Egeria and exile her on Pangar. To be more precise, Egeria has already started the Tok'ra movement but her implication in this is unknown by anyone but the Tok'ra themselves. **

**I don't really want to talk about the others right now, since I want to enjoy myself and also maybe surprise you a little. All that I say is that there will be new chapters/arcs in between Voider's original arcs. **

**I asked for Voider's permission to do this rewrite, but he/she did not answer, so I'll keep this on the website as long as Voider allows me. If I'm asked to remove said story, I will warn you via a new chapter and then do so a couple of days later.**

_**On a totally different matter, I do not trust myself alone with such a story, so I'm looking for one or two beta readers to help me with both the grammar, syntax... and the plot, character development and all. I have a fairly good idea of where I want to go with this, but being able to discuss my plans with someone would be nice.**_

**Disclaimer: Stargate belongs to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and the Empress in the Shadows' original idea belongs to Voider.**

_**I do this just for fun.**_

* * *

**3003 BC, Babylon, Earth**

* * *

A single figure made its way through the corridors of the ziggurat that was Marduk's palace in Babylon, one of Bastet's lieutenants. He part of the rising strain of Goa'uld that was named the Tok'ra, born from the queen Egeria who rebelled against the Supreme System Lord Ra... not that anyone knew that though. Very young, barely a decade old, he still had already become a familiar face amongst Bastet's and Marduk's courts.

As far as he was concerned though, these years spent in their service were well worth it The information and warnings he sent back to the Tok'ra about Bastet's moves saved the lives of at least a dozen operatives.

The mission he was on at that moment though, was not something of the like. No, it was more like a… favor he granted one of his friends, a scientist that came up with some kind of weapon that could change the Goa'uld on a psychological level to become more like the Tok'ra. He had to admit that most of the explanation went well over his head. Even though he wasn't stupid in the slightest, he was simply not interested at all in the genetic technobabble that was given to him. Not at all. All he needed to know was how to inoculate the product to the test subjects and how conspicuous it would be.

He had been assured that were he to be careful, nothing could link him to the act, act which would be undetectable anyways. He closed his eyes and let a small frown appear on his face as he entered the room containing the mature symbiotes. As much as he yearned to cause a malfunction and eradicate all of these monsters to be, he knew that it would neither be compatible with his current mission nor even suitable considering his long terms plans.

He spent a couple minutes looking at the basin in which were swimming the dozen or so symbiotes who would be granted a host in the coming ceremony, his face impassive. His lips then twitched imperceptibly and he dropped a pellet inside the water before turning back and leaving the room, not even watching it dissolve and release its chemicals in the water. His mission was over, nothing else to do about it but carefully monitoring the situation in the future.

Unfortunately for him, he would not be able to do so, having to flee Earth in a rush a couple of days later after being discovered by a servant in a compromising situation. He returned inside Tok'ra controlled territory, and after some deliberation with the scientist that created the compound, it was decided that they would just keep an ear on the ground. Just in case. They had her name though, it would prove sufficient for the moment.

* * *

I first started to think a few minutes after a strange thing dropped into the water next to me. It was… strange, thinking. All my life, all the memories that constituted my life until then were no much better than those of an animal, driven by an instinctual need to burrow into the soft flesh of a being to take control of it. Why though? Why should I? I remembered, if it was really the word, being into the… belly of a human female. I was warm and safe, sure, but it wasn't really the ideal life. Then flashes of memories startled me, making me jerk into the water. The host were named humans, and I needed a human, more than anything else I needed to take over some body. Because I was a God, I was superior to them… Or was I? But the memories said that their only uses were as our hosts and slaves. Yet other memories showed a few of them rebelling, killing soldiers with rudimentary weapons before them and their families were executed.

Another set of memories began, and another, and another again. I understood then, they were the memories of those who came before. My ancestors. I eagerly dived into them all, taking in all that I could, from the social etiquette to the intricacies of the politics of the Goa'uld, from the cultural specificities to the technological marvels they stole from other races. I saw faces, the System Lords. Obey! The enemies, a gray being, and then its ship destroying several Ha'tak. Hate! An enemy on its knees, begging for death as a Goa'uld was torturing him, a vicious smile on his face. Elation!

It was then that I understood that something was wrong. The message containing the emotions was there, I could see it, remember it. And yet I felt nothing. No emotion inside me due to these images. It was… strange, in a good way. I was free to make my own choices, to decide what I would feel.

But first, I needed a host. That, I knew, was vital. I knew it as I knew, somehow, that my name was Lilith. With absolute certainty.

* * *

Maya was smiling beatifically as she was led through the magnificent entrance to Marduk's palace. She may have been groomed since her early childhood for the great moment that was about to happen, it didn't mean that she had had the privilege to enter her God's domain before. No, she was privileged, chosen among thousands to become the avatar of a new God. What else could have been better for her life?

It had been slightly unusual how it all started. She was seven at the time, and had been accompanying her mother to the market to trade the vegetables they were growing for enough meat to last them a month. That was the last time she saw her parents. She still remembered her mother's face, silent, with tears falling down from her eyes as she was taken from her, gently but surely taken away to start a new destiny.

Couldn't her mother see what an honor it had been for both her and her family? She would become the face of a God! Her life had become so much better since then. And it would only improve from now on. It could only improve.

She was led toward a basin, with waters so dark that she couldn't begin to see what was inside. What immediately grabbed her attention though, was the presence of a God. It was clearly visible in His posture, His clothes. Immediately, without even thinking of anything else, she fell to her knees and bowed her head toward the male divinity, not even glancing toward his feet.

She stayed silent for a couple seconds before opening her mouth, a faint murmur, barely audible, troubling the silence of the room.

"My God, it is my greatest honor to…"

She was cut in the middle of her sentence, the deep voice of the God sounding amused yet firm at the same time.

"Yes, yes it is. Do not move, stay silent."

She complied, not reacting as she heard the hissing cries of something in front of her. She stayed silent as she felt a hand brush her hair away, leaving her neck naked in front of the deity. She couldn't stay silent when the agonizing pain of the Goa'uld taking her over exploded inside her brain. But as she wanted to scream, it was already too late. She stayed silent as her consciousness faded into oblivion and her eyes flashed white.

* * *

It wasn't long after that I gained consciousness that I heard more than saw the agitation in the room I was. Someone was coming. Who they were, I didn't know. Maybe my future host, I was allowed to dream… Seconds turned into minutes as I lazily swam into the dark waters, waiting for something to happen. Then it was nearly too fast to be felt, a hand closed itself around my body, triggering all my instincts. I twisted and hissed my discontentment and fear as I was lifter out of the water, but the grip was unrelenting. I could sense the naquadah in his blood. He was stronger, older than me, there was no point in resisting, and yet I couldn't control those natural impulses of mine, ingrained deeply into my memories.

Then I saw the kneeling human and if I could I would have grinned. Now that was another matter entirely. I relaxed and let the hand guide me toward the neck. My frills flared in excitement. Finally, after so long I would gain a host. A second was all that sufficed for me to slice the delicate skin of the neck open and to enter the body, wrapping myself around its spinal cord. Then came the moment to take control. I expected it to be short and painless. I was wrong. Oh, short it was, there was no doubt about that. But it was painful, linking our nervous systems and taking control of the host for the first time, feeling the full brunt of the agonizing pain she was suffering until I learned to dull it a fraction of a second later. Not knowing what to do with the consciousness of the woman I took the body from, Maya, I knocked her out and stuffed her in a secured corner of my mind. There would be time later to ponder about what to do with her.

I opened my new body's eyes and a small smile appeared on its face. My face. It was mine now, not it or whatever, mine. I slowly moved my fingers and toes, marveling about the feeling of control and precision before taking notice once more of the situation. I was kneeling in front of another Goa'uld, older, stronger, the one who gave me my host. I was supposed to obey him, to be grateful. I hated it, this feeling. From the very bottom of my being. Still, it wasn't as if I had a choice in the matter. I waited for him to react. From what I remembered, if that was the word, of the Goa'uld politics, moving without his say so would get me liable to be executed. It wouldn't do to have a clearly willful and overambitious subordinate.

My thoughts were interrupted by his call, a simple "Rise" that prompted me to stand up and look upon my new Lord. His body was… physically appealing if I used the memories and appreciations of my new body. Then again, who would voluntarily choose otherwise without a good reason? He was tanned, a trimmed beard covering the bottom of his smile, doing nothing to hide his small smirk. He had brown eyes and his shoulder length hair was carefully held back by an ornate golden headband. It only took me a second before I answered, a small polite smile on my lips.

"I am Lilith my Lord."

An amused snort barely managed to escape his lips at that and he turned toward the entrance of the room, a small gesture of his hand inviting me to follow him.

"Lilith hum? It is strangely fitting, I approve."

A small smile upon my own lips, I nodded and followed him wherever he wanted to lead me to.

* * *

I laid down on the bed in my designated home, not very far from my Lord's palace. It had been a busy day, during which Marduk, my new Lord, had explained to me my role at his side. He was a successful lieutenant of Bastet, and had been allowed to have a Goa'uld assistant. And there I entered the equation. I had been chosen to assume this position. I was to accomplish odd jobs for him, from the boring ones to those that required a lot of technical and other personal expertise. He was a busy Lord, and had decided to delegate as much as he could on my shoulders without being unreasonable.

Despite my reluctance to so readily obey the orders of another, it was all in my interest to lay low and simply do so. He was powerful, influent and did not appear to me as stupidly arrogant. As long as I would do my job within expected parameters or above, I would probably have no problem or even be suitably recompensed. I had absolutely no problem with that. Plus, it let me some time to think about ways to improve my own situation.

I exhaled and stood back up, before kneeling on a soft carpet on the floor. I had thought enough about the politics I found myself in for the moment, it was time to decide what to do with the consciousness of my host. She had been asleep until then, neither conscious nor tortured. I was no Tok'ra, that upstart group and really had no love for the sniveling cowards striking from the shadows. But at the same time, I had absolutely no intention to torture my host, it was useless in my opinion. What would I gain from such an act?

I soon found her consciousness and roused her awake, wondering how things would go. It was easy to associate to the drowsy voice of the human a body, my new body. It was fairly tall for a female, around 1m70, well-proportioned even though its hips were not fully developed, neither were its breasts. Maya was only fourteen after all. She was undeniably beautiful though, her fair skin devoid of any imperfection or scar, petite lips curling into a soft smile, green entrancing eyes and flaming red hair of a color she had never seen before. You could not miss her, and should she have not been spotted by the Jaffa and groomed to become my new body, she would probably have made some man a very happy husband by then. But it was neither then nor there.

'Wh-what is happening, where am I?'

This sudden though startled me out of my… vanity, and I answered her swiftly. There were undertones of panic in her voice and it would be better to defuse the situation before it escalated.

'Keep calm Maya. Don't you remember the Ritual?"

My voice was as soothing as I could make it. I was still considering what to do with her.

'The… Oh…' She kept quiet for a few seconds, before adding. 'Am… am I dead?'

I considered the question before shaking my head to myself. I couldn't really considerate her as dead, that was silly. She was talking to me after all, no?

'No you are not, child."

She took once again a few seconds before continuing.

'What happened to me? I can't move. It's dark. I… please my Goddess, I implore you to help me.'

I frowned at the use of the word Goddess. I disliked it. Contrarily to some of the others Goa'uld, I lacked both the arrogance and the insanity to call myself a goddess. No, I was lucid enough to be objective about my true nature. And well, it's not as if Maya would spread the word.

'I'm afraid I must correct you Maya, I am no Goddess.'

I could clearly feel her shock and incomprehension before she tentatively asked.

'I… do not understand. I was supposed to be the avatar of a God. Or Goddess. Aren't you her?'

I snorted derisively and shook my head.

'I am the one who took control of you, the so-called Goddess. But really, I'm neither insane nor arrogant enough to call myself a Goddess. That was a ruse of our kind to take control of you humans, but it seems that some Goa'uld seems to have told that lie so much that even they believe it…'

It was now horror and anger that was predominant amongst her emotions. It was fairly logical after all, I just destroyed all she believed in until now.

'So… what are you?'

I was taken aback with the anger and disrespect in her voice. That way of talking would have gotten her tortured for a couple years by a normal Goa'uld. She was pretty lucky I was me.

'I think you misunderstand the situation here Maya. It may not appear like it but I have been exceedingly nice with you until now. My kind usually torture our host's consciousness into submission or insanity when we take control of them. So even though I do not plan to do so, it would be better for the future that you address me with a minimum of respect even when you are angry. Now to answer your question we are… parasites would be the best term.'

Since she had no access to my memories, I consciously and voluntarily sent her an image of my natural appearance, or if not mine at least my species'. It only added to her shock and disgust. Now I was a bit annoyed. I could understand her reaction, but I had enough self-worth to feel insulted. Still, I forced myself to stay silent and wait for her answer.

All the anger had left her tone, leaving only dread. She was hesitant, fearful and a little lost, I could hear it in her voice.

'I… I'm sorry, I did not mean to… Please don't hurt me anymore.'

I sighed internally, and she must have heard me.

'The pain wasn't intentional when I first took control of you. Truth be told, I also felt it and was the one to render you unconscious. I do not want absolute subservience or whatever. What I want is to be able to go on with my life without having to fight you for this body, and a minimum of respect. Do that, and both our life will be considerably improved.'

She was once again hesitant when she asked

'Both our lives?'

I nodded, my amusement clearly showing in my emotions.

'Of course. If I do not recompense you for your efforts, why would you relinquish your body to me? No, it wouldn't do. So if you behave and try to cooperate, I will give you full access to my senses and a limited access of my memories. Nothing too personal, but you would be able to learn, you wouldn't be too bored in here.'

A particularly strong mind would be able to have access to my senses without my say so, but she evidently was not. And my memories were inaccessible to my host without my conscious permission and effort to leave them open. All in all it was a really good deal for her. And I would sweeten it even more, a good relationship with her could be useful in the future.

'And well, if you learn enough to act like me, I may even let you stretch your legs in private in the future. This was your body after all.'

I could feel her feeling being soothed by my offer. It was not as if she was happy, she was still a prisoner in her own body, but she could at least enjoy herself a little.

'I accept, your offer is… nice, I don't think I'll ever get better than that.'

Once again, it was fairly insulting, but it's not as if I didn't understand her bitterness. She would get used to the situation. So I didn't lash out at her as was my first instinct.

'Indeed. I advise you to learn about our society, etiquette and science first. The first two are essential if you want me to give you control for a short time in the future, the last part is because I do not underestimate the Human imagination. From my memories, your kind can be amusingly efficient should they be given the chance. Considering that nearly all the technological expertise of my kind comes from a scavenging point of view, some originality would be welcome. That's where you will come in.'

I could feel her acknowledgement and agreement of our little deal and smiled. Not bad for a first day.

* * *

The Goa'uld are a feudal society. At the top of the food chain we have the System Lords. Below them are their mates, their lieutenants and the independent powerful Goa'uld. All of them have large domains, ruling over many worlds and command large fleets and armies.

Next, we have the Goa'uld that rule smaller domains or act as commanders.

And then there was the class I belonged to. It is of course the most numerous. Here we could find the weaker Goa'uld: the administrators, assistants, low-ranked officers, mercenaries, scientists and all others.

It was in this category that laid the most power hungry of our kind. Because being tempted with our memories of power and conquest while being relegated to the simple rank of assistant was utterly infuriating. Or it should be. I had no such problem. Oh, I had a lot of ambition, and I planned climbing up the social ladder, but I had to be careful and patient while doing so, which was easier since I couldn't associate myself fully with my genetic memory, and thus didn't suffer the full brunt of this ingrained frustration. I knew that I had to get out of the shadows, and to do so in a way that would permit me to get Jaffas for my personal service.

In the Goa'uld society, power equaled military power. I needed troops, I needed worlds if I was to become someone, if I was to leave Marduk's and Bastet's shadows. If I was to be free.

So in the months that followed my getting a host, I worked like I never knew I could, constantly on the move constantly on missions from Marduk. But where I thrived were the scientific and engineering assignments that were given to me.

During those last few months, Maya got enough experience in scientific matters to reach the point where we could start to bounce ideas toward each other in order to solve the various problems I faced. Of course, hers were clumsy and not so well thought in the beginning, but she was starting to get better and was already extremely useful.

Through careful calibrations, replacement of unsuitable parts and a good dose of imagination, I managed to improve the power generation and distribution of Marduk's flagship, resulting in better shields and weapon power. With that, came the troves of information that Marduk thought would be useful in my hands. Technological data, intelligence reports, but also a bit on the political climate of the moment. I had proved my usefulness, and my collaboration with my host ensured that I was probably the most promising scientist on Earth. I would have liked to say most competent, but a lot of them had me beaten thanks to their experience. Not for long, but still, they were centuries or even millennia older than me, which takes some time to catch up to.

Not that I showed it though, I held back, keeping some of my ideas in my mind until I could get the resources and privacy to implement them. I could not appear as too competent a scientist, or my progress in the Goa'uld society would end before even starting. I would get stuffed in a lab, popping inventions and upgrades under the watchful eyes of Marduk or even Bastet until my death. No, I had to be careful.

But I learned, I spent hours every night talking with Maya and assimilating the genetic memories pertaining to the science available to the Goa'uld. For each upgrade I granted Marduk's ship, I had several more planned for any future ship I would own. After all, I was still planning my freedom and, being a servant of Bastet, Marduk would probably face me when the time comes. No sense in arming potential enemies.

All in all, I was in quite the beneficial position to achieve my goals. All I had to do now was to wait for the right opportunity and seize it. I was patient, my time would come.

* * *

**So this is it.**

**I'd greatly appreciate some constructive criticism, and please avoid flames, they serve no purpose except annoying everybody.**

**Ttfn!**


	2. Rebellion

**Hey everyone, here it is, the second chapter of this story. I won't spoil or anything, but with the change in the timeline, you may have seen it coming.**

**I'll thank thunder18 for his review, and Samatha Carter Potter for both his review and help as a beta. **

**OMAC001 : Thanks for the comment, I have looked a lot into Lilith and her myth, and yes, I have seen the owl here and there. As for making it the helmet of her Jaffa, I don't think I will do so. Those helmets are worn by the elite Jaffa of the Systems Lords to intimidate the local populations. She will have no need of that, and they will wear far more practical helmets. As for the timeline, I hope this chapter will reassure you, I intend to make it mine and change many things (of course some of the others will stay the same, but that's expected).**

**Disclaimer: Stargate belongs to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and the Empress in the Shadows' original idea belongs to Voider.**

* * *

**2995 BC, Babylon, Eath**

* * *

I had learnt a lot in the years that I spent inside Marduk's palace. Apparently very few Goa'ulds had the honor to have residences or even cities on the Tau'ri. Bastet, with her defense of Ra during the attack of Anubis millennia ago had earned her very own city, and Marduk, being first among her Lieutenants, was also given a city to rule in her name, but further away from Ra's Heliopolis.

At that very moment though, Bastet was on her personal planet, the very center of her power, Bubastis. That was why I hadn't seen her at all since my getting a body. Marduk though, was using the workers of Babylon to improve his flagship. That was why I had spent so long on this planet, working on it myself. It was soon to be completed though, so I wouldn't be staying here very much longer. In my occasional conversations with Marduk, I could nearly feel his restlessness. He seemed to be eager to leave too. Perhaps he too had sensed that something was wrong? He hadn't taken any action though, so this may not have been the case.

* * *

I sighed in delight as I felt the cool water run across my skin. It had been an unusually hot day and it was nice to finally relax a little. Closing my eyes, I remembered the last few years and a small smile appeared on my lips. These had been harsh years, and I had spent many a day completing missions for my Lord Marduk, and even occasionally for Lady Bastet herself, even though I hadn't met her in person yet. I had proved myself to be reliable, and that was already a huge positive step toward the completion of my ambitions.

I smiled toward the servant girl bathing me and gestured for her to leave, staying alone in the room. That was one of the big differences between myself and the other Goa'ulds, I was more inclined to share my contentment with the servants. It may seem like nothing, but we as a kind do not often smile, especially toward servants. Well, except when they have performed beyond what was expected of them. I was different in that I was a bit more open with my feelings. And why wouldn't I be? I had had a relatively good life until then, my plans were progressing nicely and neither Marduk nor Bastet had any idea that I was smarter that I lead them to believe. To them, I was simply a very competent subordinate.

On the downside though, I had started to hear about some strange rumors running around, much to Maya's amusement and my slight embarrassment. Apparently, my nice disposition and the beauty of my body had led the people of Babylon to believe me a temptress, a seductress. Usually such a thing would simply amuse me and nothing more, but I kept an ear on the ground and there were more rumors, darker in nature. There, I was called a demon, a child killer. The very idea of such a rumor about me was ludicrous. The worst I did to children was a slap across the face, and that was just once. The little bastard deserved it though, to try and lift my purse.

I wasn't the only one to suffer such rumors though. Nobody knew where they came from, but each and every Goa'uld that I knew had seemed to gleam the discontentment of the people as a whole, more often than not for a good reason.

Something was going on. I did not know what, but it was obvious that things were changing fast.

* * *

The first real sign of the troubles that would follow was the discovery of the body of a Jaffa.

It had been a couple of months after the beginning of those rumors, when one of my personal servants told me that some people had found a man with an empty stomach naked and dead in an alley. I automatically decided to personally check it out and dressed myself in a rush, not forgetting my wrist device in case I was attacked. The death of a Jaffa, and even worse the disappearance of his equipment, alarmed me greatly, and I wanted to check it for myself.

That's why I found myself walking through the alleys of the great city, following one of my servants, a young woman named Iltani. She was uncharacteristically silent, flawlessly navigating the maze that was the Sumerian capital. After a couple minutes of following her in silence, I spoke.

"You seem to know these parts well Iltani, did you live here before?"

There was no falter in her steps or anything, but I felt her hesitation for a moment before she answered.

"Not really my Goddess, I just wander sometimes when you dismiss me from your presence. Me knowing this city well means that I can be of more use to you."

I chuckled softly at that, nodding to myself. While I may not delude myself into thinking I was a Goddess, that loyalty was still pretty nice, even if it was somewhat tedious to get the full truth out of my subordinates.

"You know very well that you can tell me the truth Iltani, I'll not skin you alive or anything. You've been in my service for how long? Six years? How often did I punish you in that time?"

I could nearly feel the smile on her face. She knew I told the truth, I had been pretty lenient with her, even though there had been times where I had no choice but to reign her in. It never necessitated outright torture, but I had to strike her once or twice when Marduk was there. I couldn't appear to be weak.

"That's true… Let's just say then that there is a really handsome blacksmith in this quarter… Reaaaally handsome."

I outright laughed at that, amused by that comment of hers.

"Well if that's… the…"

I stopped myself as we entered a small square. Immediately, I moved past Iltani and cursed under my breath. When she told me that it was a naked body that was found by the people, I expected it lying on the floor or something. It was not the case. The body itself was impaled upon a sharp piece of wood, the pal itself going out of his mouth. It was gruesome, but what disturbed me was that the larval symbiote had been removed from the Jaffa and impaled above him. That was not a simple crime, a common murderer shouldn't have killed a Jaffa so easily, and he couldn't have been alive while he was being impaled. Too little blood, and there was no sign of resistance. But the worst part was the symbiote. The ones who did that knew very well what they were doing.

I turned toward Iltani and told her to approach me.

"Stay close Iltani, I'm not sure we are safe here. Do not leave me, for even a second, you understand?"

She seemed troubled and even a little scared by my serious side. I did not show it often to her, the only times I did were when I had to punish her. She never was around in the other cases.

"Yes… Yes my Goddess. But what…"

I held my hand up to interrupt her, and shook my head to order her to stay silent. She had been with me long enough to nod and close her mouth.

"Look around, if you see anything strange, tell me."

She nodded once more and I smiled toward her, before turning my attention back to the body. I looked at it, examining the possible causes of the death. It took me several minutes before I spotted it, a small burnt impact point on his back. Too small for a staff wound, but it was a Goa'uld weapon. Zat'nik'tel. This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all. My first thought was that it was a rival Goa'uld, but they wouldn't kill the symbiote like that. No, this was a declaration of war, an attack from the shadows. Tok'ra.

My eyes widened and I turned toward Iltani.

"We leave, now!"

Her own eyes showed her surprise at the flicker of fear visible on my face before she nodded and half-walked, half-ran out of the square, knowing I would follow her. And I did.

I knew this was not simply an attack, there was a Tok'ra in the city, and they would be expecting that either Jaffa, or a minor Goa'uld, would investigate. This was an ambush, and I had walked in here unsuspecting. They could be anywhere, but I knew I couldn't approach the palace without being attacked.

I snarled and increased my pace, taking a hold of Iltani's arm to keep her close to me. I knew it would tire her quickly but I had no choice. Or did I? A small smile appeared on my lips as I grabbed Iltani and flung her on my shoulder, keeping a hold of her. I could have let her be, but as my servant, her chances of getting out of there alive were slim. No, she was coming with me. She had been faithful until then, and I would not abandon her at the first sign of trouble.

"My Goddess!"

I hushed her immediately, maybe more harshly that I should. It was of no importance at the moment. I looked at the houses around me, quickly spotting the tallest, before entering it. I knew I was taking a risk and that it could be the one where the ambush would happen, but I had to have a good vantage point. There was a family in there, and they immediately started to protest my entrance. My eyes flashed white and I boomed with my deep Goa'uld voice.

"Be silent."

That cowed them immediately and I rushed toward the first floor, my enhanced speed working fully. The Sumerian homes had very small windows to keep the heat in, but there were also build around a central shaft that let the light enter. That was this shaft that I would use to reach the roof. For a normal human, it may be tedious, but with my Goa'uld enhanced strength it was child's play and I soon found myself on the roof.

I could easily see the palace and the flagship docked above it, a couple hundred meters away, but I also saw the small group of humans, or maybe Tok'ra, on a roof nearby. I crouched immediately to avoid being spotted. They seemed agitated, and talking into a device. I cursed my stupidity in not taking a communicator myself, before shaking my head. There was no point in continuing this train of thought as it would change nothing. I knew where they were, and where they would likely attack me, so I could avoid them. An attack without knowing their equipment or capabilities was suicide. I looked toward Iltani and whispered toward her.

"Iltani, you told me you knew the city well. Can you guide me to the palace while avoiding them by a large margin?"

She looked toward the group of humans and frowned.

"Yes I can my Goddess, but… they are humans and…"

I chuckled bitterly.

"No they are not, or at least not all of them. I know there is at least a God with them. Me simply attacking them could and probably would not end well for me."

She said nothing else, simply nodding. She didn't know that we attacked each other frequently, but she knew better than to continue talking about that.

"Follow me."

And I did. We took the alleys instead of the roofs to stay stealthy, never knowing if our ambushers had moved or abandoned the chase. This was the most danger I had ever been in since my birth. Soon though, we saw the palace and I smiled, knowing that I was safe. I could already see Marduk's Jaffa approaching to intercept us. I flashed my eyes and was about to speak to them when I heard them scream in alarm and felt a searing pain in my back. The horrified scream of Iltani was the last thing I heard before the darkness engulfed me.

* * *

Panic was the first thing in my mind when I came to myself. I didn't remember what happened for a second and then everything came back to me. The trap, the ambush that I avoided, and then the pain just as I thought myself safe. That was a grievous mistake on my part, one that I would avoid in the future. I opened my eyes and saw only a white brightness. Immediately, my mind made the connection with some memories and I knew I was inside a sarcophagus. Fascinating piece of healing technology that, but from that genetic memory of mine I also knew there was something wrong with it. I didn't know what, but I just knew.

I opened it from the inside and soon came out of it, looking a bit worse for wear. I looked toward the apparatus for a second before calling one of Marduk's Jaffa. I knew some would be close and I was not mistaken.

"What is your will?"

I flashed my eyes and frowned.

"Lead me to your God, I have to talk to him immediately."

He seemed to hesitate for a second before nodding and leading me to him. I knew that I had to meditate after I warned Marduk about the Tok'ra menace. I hadn't talked with Maya for a while and that first death of ours may have shocked her.

I soon was led to one of Marduk's personal rooms and was announced by the Jaffa before he left. I entered confidently and looked toward Marduk, a frown on my face. He seemed a little agitated himself, looking toward the city through a large window.

"Ah, Lilith, glad to see you are well. I have sent patrols of Jaffa to look for the one who attacked you but they haven't come back yet."

Well, his agitation was a little more comprehensible. I didn't know how many he had sent, but for them to have not come back, that was a problem. Probably a Tok'ra problem.

"There was Tok'ra scum involved, my Lord. I was following a rumor and found one of your Jaffa naked and impaled in a grotesque display. The same with his Larval Goa'uld. He was killed by a Zat'nik'tel."

Marduk turned to look at me and I could see him pale a little before his face twisted into a rictus of rage. I stayed silent, very conscious that I didn't want to incur his wrath.

"How sure are you of that?"

I looked at him in the eye and scowled.

"A hundred percent sure my Lord. I have no doubt about this. If there is no Tok'ra, there is at least their involvement. There is no way the humans would try and rebel without their interference."

He moved to observe the city once again, sighing.

"You think it will come to that, a rebellion?"

I nodded, knowing that he could see me in the reflection of the window.

"Yes my Lord, there have been signs, rumors, and now this? I didn't want to believe it myself, and I'm sure that not all of the population is involved, but there's no mistaking it. I would…"

I seemed to hesitate at that, not knowing if he would accept me giving advice to him or if he would lash out.

Without looking at me, he gestured with his hand to indicate that I continue.

"I would remove your flagship from the dock and put it in orbit my Lord, and then vent atmosphere. There has been countless humans working on it, and they probably know enough for an infiltration and then acts of sabotage to be possible. That's not even taking into account the Tok'ra themselves."

He seemed to struggle a little with my proposition, probably his pride that was certainly taking a beating.

"I will not be running away! I certainly do not want to give those scum that pleasure."

I sighed at that, agreeing with him.

"I know my Lord, neither do I, but right now you are vulnerable. If your flagship is sabotaged, or even worse, fall into enemies hands…"

He growled and punched the window, before looking in my direction.

"Stay here and keep the palace intact Lilith. Do not fail me!"

He snarled those last words before moving toward the transportation rings and teleporting himself to his ship. I looked toward the naquadah rings that were slowly returning to their position in the ground before bursting out of the room, looking toward the Jaffa present.

"Jaffa, kree!"

Their attention was fully on me.

"I need to see the first Prime."

They saluted me before leading me through the palace toward another room. I immediately entered, seeing a Jaffa with a golden emblem on his head. Perfect.

"Your God Marduk left me in charge of defending the palace while he is away. Call back all patrols and establish a defensive perimeter around the building. Nobody enters without my say so."

He seemed to hesitate for a second before agreeing. I had been around long enough for him to recognize me.

"Very well my Goddess. Anything else?"

I thought about it before nodding.

"Yes, when I say let nobody enter, that includes other Gods. No matter what they say. Should they insist, warn me and I'll take care of it myself."

I moved to leave when the first prime talked to me once again.

"The patrols do not answer."

I closed my eyes and then turned to look at him once again.

"Then they have been killed, and their equipment taken. The slaves are rebelling. Do not fail your Gods."

His eyes widened at that and he nodded once again before beginning to bark orders to his subordinates. There was nothing else for me to do then, except move toward my quarters and keeping an eye on my communicator.

* * *

I was soon in my quarters inside the palace, kneeling on the ground and meditating. I was used to doing it so I relaxed quickly, taking care of this opportunity to speak with Maya.

'Are you listening Maya?'

I could feel something shift inside my mind, as always when we were talking. I should really try and get used to talking with her without meditating.

'Of course Lilith, how are you?'

It seemed like a banal question, but with everything going on, it was a perfectly valid one. I sighed internally before answering.

'Not that well to be honest. I knew that they would rebel someday. With the way the other Goa'uld treated them it was no wonder. But to see it for myself is shocking. That and they killed me Maya, I had to be resurrected with a sarcophagus. It's…'

I couldn't find my words. Maybe there was some psychological trauma that the other Goa'uld, with their inherent insanity, did not feel. I was definitely not well, that was for sure.

'I know, I know. Well, I can imagine at least. I don't know what to say. Except, there was something happening inside my head when you were in the sarcophagus. It was nearly imperceptible, but well, it's not as if I had something else to do. No, I was… angrier, and I felt very good. Too good considering we were nearly dead.'

That she was not totally unconscious during the healing surprised me a little. But it seemed like she couldn't take control anyways, so it wasn't that much of a deal. What she had to say was very concerning though.

'So you think that I should avoid it too? I felt that there was something wrong with the sarcophagus, but I couldn't put my finger on it.'

I could feel her agreement.

'Indeed, we are of one mind on that. I…'

Immediately I snapped out of my meditation as I heard the communicator. It was a call from Marduk. I opened it and immediately I could hear the voice of my Lord.

"Lilith, do you hear me?"

There was a sense of urgency in his voice, so I did not hesitate.

"Yes my Lord, do you need something?"

I could hear some sounds in the background, as if there were multiple conversations going at the same time.

"Evacuate the palace, and order my Jaffa to do the same! There is…"

I stayed silent, a bit stunned by the order. And then heard the scream of rage of my Lord.

"The rebellion is going on everywhere. Ra has already left the planet. Bastet has ordered me to collect the few Bast guard she left in Per Basta, as the locals call it, and then to move to Bubastis. So move it!"

Snapped out of my shock, I closed the communicator and ran toward the first prime's room. As I entered it, he turned toward me.

"My Lady, there are…"

He was interrupted by the sound of a staff blast striking the wall.

"No time, our Lord has ordered the evacuation. Order a defensive retreat toward the transport rings, we do not have time to talk. Give the order and go in first. I'll supervise the evacuation."

He seemed stunned that I would stay here, but nodded and ordered the retreat. I followed him toward the rings, thinking about my decision. I knew I was taking a risk, but I thought it was a risk I had to take. Not only would it ingratiate me to Marduk's Jaffa, but also to Marduk himself. If I made a good enough impression, it may even lead to me getting my very own Jaffa.

Once I entered the ring room, I took the communicators and organized the retreat. There were losses, I knew there would be, but I did my best to minimize that. There were about a hundred Jaffa in the palace itself, and I knew if everything went well I could be finished in five minutes. But I knew from the communications of the Jaffa that they were constantly fighting the enemy that was following them.

Soon, all of the Jaffa were in the room, and I could see the staff blasts flying everywhere. Knowing that I had no choice left, I snarled and blasted the entrance with a powerful telekinetic blast, giving the Jaffa and me some room to breathe. I ran to the entrance and closed the door, before blasting the locking mechanism to fuse all the parts together and delay the attacker's entrance. I turned toward the last few Jaffa and told them to take the ring, before running toward it myself.

As I saw the ring moving up to teleport me to the ship, I saw the door being opened and the first attackers begin to enter. The last face I saw enter shocked me to my very core, and then I was inside the flagship.

Why Iltani? I trusted you.

* * *

**Thank you once again for reading and reviewing. Don't hesitate to send me constructive criticism.**

**Ttfn!**


	3. First battle

**Hello everyone! **

**As you will be able to see in this chapter, I made radical changes in Bastet's character. She will not be the blind stereotypical villain she was in Voider's version. She is still a System Lord, and I somewhat followed the RPG description that was given of her in the 'Living Gods Stargate System Lords' rulebook. So her troops are all female and she is somewhat saner and shows more compassion than the typical Goa'uld. That doesn't mean she isn't cunning or ruthless though. **

**My Marduk, of course, doesn't follow the canon representation that was made of him. It's like that, let's consider it's an alternate universe in which he doesn't get the memories of the Goa'uld he eats or never tried eating one. So no insanity or over the board cruelty. **

**Now, I thank Incognito, OMAC001, karthik9, Fan01, thunder18 and iitrnr for their review and will answer them :**

**iitrnr : Thanks, I am a fan myself and couldn't bear to see it stopped where it is. There will be huge changes from Voider's version though, I disagree with some of the choices he made and some of the technologies he pulled out of nowhere.**

**OMAC001 : There will be some effects indeed. But don't expect something glaringly obvious. It will be subtle and in the long term.**

**karthik9 : That was the plan. I won't pull things out of nowhere like Voider did. I will try to be as realistic as possible (even if sometimes it'll end as info-dumpy)**

**Fan01 : Er... lol? Trustworthy is such a big word... How do you know if someone is absolutely trustworthy?**

**thunder18 : Thanks!**

**Incognito : I thank you for your review, that's the kind of review I really love getting. So I will answer your points one after the others. **

**For the helmet, you have a point here. But I think it's only each System Lord's Guard that get an animal helmet. And in the immediate future she won't become a System Lord so the point is moot. But I have planned some helmets in the future, more functional of course (the animals helmets are not even that good at protecting the Jaffa underneath), but I never said it would be blank featureless helmets. I'm not so sure about the owl thing since it would be more Athena's shtick, but I'm thinking about it.**

**For the Tok'ra conspiracy, you misread a bit. The only thing I said is that Egeria's implication is unknown as of now, not that the Tok'ra aren't active. They are extremely active since with their queen up and spawning numbers, they do not risk extinction like in canon. **

**For the Ohnes, believe me or not I considered the idea. But seriously, I am reluctant in considering them canon. Of course they appear in an official episode, but they appear only once and never afterward if I remember well. And well, they don't even have that much of an impact on SG1. Plus, this way I can have Marduk as Babylon's ruler and don't have to tangle with Belus...**

**Now the last point, simply thanks. I did not think about that, but that's an extremely good idea that I will use in the future. I don't know when myself and I'll try to stay coherent with the rest of the story, but it'll come. Thumbs up! Though I will tell you that any knowledge about ascension will be purely theoretical. That'll never happen to Lilith, ever.**

**(Sorry I forgot some reviews here, all corrected, wanted to go too fast and all...)**

**I'm sorry if there are mistakes and grammatical errors in this chapter, my beta reader sort of disappeared on me :O so it's the original version.**

**Disclamier : I own nothing, I do this for fun!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**2995 BC, space above Earth**

* * *

I exhaled and grinned a little as I felt the acceleration of Marduk's Ha'tak. It was very short, not hyperspace as I was expecting. I was surprised for a moment before shaking my head. Of course, the Bast guard we had to get out of Per Basta. I left without a word and headed toward the pel'tak. I didn't know if Marduk was willing to talk to me or not, but it cost me nothing to try, especially after I saved so many of his Jaffa.

It didn't take me too long to get to the pel'tak, barely a dozen of minutes, and soon I was watching as Marduk was communicating with Lady Bastet. I stayed silent in the background, not wanting to interrupt what seemed to be an extremely important communication. I could immediately see both of their frustration, and in a sense I could understand it. That was part of their empire that was crumbling under their feet after all. I resolved to take what happened in consideration for the day when I get to build my own.

It was Bastet that noticed my presence the first, logical since I was behind Marduk's back. She looked at me directly, which prompted Marduk to turn toward me in curiosity and do the same. I stayed silent, clearly showing my deference. It wouldn't do to lack respect or to speak first, she was a System Lord after all.

"Lilith."

I bowed my head in salutations.

"My Lady, how can I be of service?"

A sly smile crossed her lips for a second and then disappeared.

"Marduk has told me what happened in Babylon, but I would like your input. You were the one to warn him of the Tok'ra interference."

I nodded to that.

"I was my Lady. My servant often kept me aware of the happenings in the city, and she once again did so…" I frowned and turned toward Marduk. "How long did I spend in the sarcophagus my Lord?"

Marduk tilted his head slightly in thought before looking back in my direction.

"Twelve hours, maybe thirteen."

I smiled in thanks and turned back toward Bastet's image.

"So it was yesterday at the end of the afternoon. I was told that a naked man with a slit and empty stomach was found in a square of the city. Immediately I thought it was one of Marduk's Jaffas and decided to investigate personally. I took my servant to guide me and go there."

A look of cold calculation and hatred made itself visible on my face as I thought about Iltani's betrayal. Was it after I was attacked that she was converted or before. If it was before, then she really played me for a fool. I didn't like that.

"Is there a problem Lilith?"

She seemed curious about my pause.

"The servant I'm talking about was a part of the attack force that entered the ring chamber when I left the palace. I was simply thinking about the consequences were she to have been a Tok'ra sympathiser all that time. Fortunately, I didn't reveal any important information to her, but for my personal servant to be an agent of the enemy is distressing."

I said no more, all three of us knew what would happen if we got a hold of her. It wouldn't be pretty, that was for sure, and she would bear the full weight of our discontentment.

"An alarming perspective, but not totally relevant to the situation, resume your report."

Once again, Bastet showed her no-nonsense side to me. She could be a relatively nice Goa'uld at times, but these times were rare.

"I came to the scene of the Jaffa impaled, with the symbiote impaled above it. It was too theatrical, and the symbiote itself showed that the ones who did that had a knowledge of our kind. That alarmed me and I checked the body for injuries, quickly finding a Zat'nik'tel burn on his back. I deduced that this was either an attack from another Lord or Tok'ra interference. The fate of the larva let me to believe exclusively in a Tok'ra attack, and soon after trap. This was too convenient, far enough from the palace, isolated from usual patrols. I do not know why they didn't attack here and then, but I knew it would come. I move to the roofs and checked for the presence of an ambush group. Not confident in my chances of getting out unscathed to bring out the word, I had my servant lead me around the ambush. She may not have been in the Tok'ra pockets at the time, it would have been easy to lead me there to my death… Anyways, I finally reached the palace, felt foolishly confident and was rewarded with a staff blast in the back. You know what happened afterwards."

She nodded and stayed pensive for a moment before frowning.

"And your advising Marduk to get his ship in orbit?"

I tilted my head to the side.

"Basic defensive measures in case of potential infiltrators. Get the ship in hard vacuum, purge it, go back in the atmosphere to resupply the atmosphere and enter your troops through a controlled access point. Minimal chances to get unwanted guesses except if your troops themselves are infiltrated. I… felt the situation was serious enough to not take any risk."

She frowned at that.

"Felt? What do you mean?"

I frowned myself, not really sure of my answer.

"The Jaffa was naked, which meant that they were collecting armors and weapons. Either my servant was a traitor already at the time, or simply a pawn, but I was lead deliberately in an ambush, and after that when they couldn't get to me in a dark alley, they shot me in front of Marduk's Jaffa. That was as close a declaration of war as could be. They were ready and moved to eliminate Marduk's assets. I guess I felt that immediately and instinctively and reacted in consequence."

She smiled a little and I knew that I did well both during the attack and right then.

"I am pleased with your actions and analysis, as much as I can be after such a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Tok'ra. We lost the Tau'ri completely, along with a lot of weapons and even worse Ha'taks from some System Lords and their lieutenants. From the reports I am getting, you are not in security yet." She turned toward Marduk. "After you finish to get my guard, leave toward Bubastis post-haste. The scum may be emboldened by their victory and try to shoot down as many isolated ships as possible."

With that last order, she turned the communication off and Marduk and I looked toward each other, our faces grim. We were still in danger and that wasn't reassuring in the slightest.

I was the first to talk this time.

"I will make sure the upgrades to your ship are fully operational my Lord, I think we may need it."

Marduk nodded, a frown on his face.

"Do it. I'll monitor the transport of the Jaffa and prepare the ship for the jump to Bubastis."

There was nothing else to say, we had jobs to do and our lives to save. Nothing else mattered at the moment.

* * *

I was in the generator room monitoring the energy output when I felt it, the first impact of a plasma weapon on our shields. I cursed and was about to contact Marduk when he did it himself. His voice was tight and controlled, but I could hear he was slightly nervous.

"Lilith, we have four Ha'tak incoming, what are our chances with your improvements?"

The curse I let out accidentally probably didn't reassure him at all.

"Not good my Lord, there is little chance we could get even one down. This ship is good, but with four hostiles, if we want to survive more than two minutes I'll have to redirect the majority of the power to the shields, leaving the weapons underpowered and our offensive power pathetic at best. And we can't leave because a salvo from four Ha'tak may damage the hyperdrive in the short time we are left without a shield."

Marduk seemed angered at the idea.

"I won't let those rats kill us without a fight. Lilith, if I get you into one of their Ha'taks, do you think you'll be able to capture it under our control."

I closed my eyes to think before nodding to myself.

"I'm not perfectly sure, but we have better chances than simply staying here and only defending. I'll calibrate the generators to send the energy to the shields in priority. That should give you enough time for me to complete the infiltration. I'll send you a call every ten minutes. If after fifteen I'm not calling, I think it would be best to consider me dead and try to leave either way. If I go down, I'll try to sabotage the ship I infiltrated."

He stayed silent for a few seconds as I could hear the hammering of the plasma cannons on the shields of the Ha'tak.

"Very well, take a second kara'kesh and five Jaffa with you. Do not fail me Lilith."

A small smile appeared on my lips.

"When have I ever failed you my Lord?"

I turned toward the calibration console before I could see the smile on his lips and directed as much energy as I could to the shields, before running toward Marduk's private chambers. That order to take a second kara'kesh was more like an authorisation to take one from his private armory. There was no others in this ship after all.

I was soon in the transport chamber, fully armed and with the Jaffas by my side. I called Marduk to warn him I was ready.

"My Lord, I am ready to go."

The answer was quick.

"Very well, I position us for the transport, activate the rings on my signal."

I wanted to answer but I felt the ship move, the inertial dampeners not quite managing to absorb the full brunt of the ship's acceleration. A few seconds passed, unending, before I heard it.

"Go!"

I didn't hesitate and activated the rings, immediately appearing into what was another Ha'tak. Without thinking, I ran toward the controls of the room and started to work immediately. My goal was to disconnect the room from the command network on the pel'tak without triggering the internal sensors. Then I would seal it close for the purge that was sure to happen. Fortunately the security system was lower than on Marduk's flagship, and my experience in dealing with this technology made me finish my task relatively quickly. It was very good for us because we could hear immediately the sound of the air being sucked out of the rest of the ship. The purge was very short, which was strange since I though they wouldn't take the risk and simply try to asphyxiate us. It seemed that they only intended to use the wind created by the depressurisation to blow us out of the ship, while leaving a depleted but still breathable atmosphere for their use. Their loss, our gain.

Once I was sure it was over, I sent a small message to Marduk indicating I was alive and then signalled for the Jaffa to rush the pel'tak. I knew that the Tok'ra didn't have many groups, being a subversive group and all, but I wanted it over before they could sabotage the ship or reinitiate a purge. That's why, a couple minutes later, we were at the doors of the pel'tak, the Jaffa ready to kill anything that moved.

The attack itself was pretty anticlimactic. We caught the two Tok'ra operating the ship by surprise, killing one before they could even react and a staff blast to the side followed by a telekinetic wave knocked the other down a couple seconds later. All in all, it was a productive attack.

Immediately, I opened a communication channel toward Marduk's ship.

"My Lord, I am in control of the ship."

I could see a victorious smile on his lips at that piece of news.

"Excellent Lilith, I'll await for your distraction before I jump for Bubastis."

I nodded with a smile of my own.

"Of course my Lord."

I concentrated on the commands of the ship's weapon and directed them toward a Tok'ra controlled Ha'tak, the one closer to Marduk's flagship. I then put my shield up at full power and engaged the hyperdrive, ready to jump. I was not mistaken in my analysis of their reaction. Their confusion at another ally attacking them gave us a few precious seconds, enough for Marduk and I to jump away, finally secure after that horrible day.

I sat on the control chair heavily and started to chuckle, my nerves suffering from the long day and the adrenaline rush. I turned toward one of the Jaffa and sent him and the others save one to scout the ship and look for supplies. The last one I ordered to take the prisoner in a secure room and to always keep an eye on him to avoid any escape. The journey to Bubastis would take a little less than three months after all, and that was plenty of time for anything to happen. I wouldn't let the one source of information I have escape. Heh, I would probably put all five Jaffas on guard duty once they found enough food and water to keep all of us alive.

* * *

**2994 BC, sky above Bubastis**

* * *

I smiled as I brought the Ha'tak out of hyperspace. It had been three months since the journey started and we finally were arriving toward Bubastis. Well, I say we but Marduk arrived a couple of days before me, his hyperdrive slightly more powerful that the one inside the ship I captured. I did not waste that time though. I thoroughly studied the death gliders inside the Ha'tak. The design was pretty interesting that was for sure, but there was no protection at all, which means that it made for a relatively good but disposable craft. I had no real power nor troops yet, but I knew I didn't want disposable troops. It was a waste of both experience and manpower. The more soldiers fight the better they become, so sending them to their death with a bad battle plan or sub-par equipment was not in my interests.

So I started to experiment with the numerous gliders, taking a couple apart to better comprehend their structure before thinking of ways to improve it. It was a long term job for the moment, but I already knew what improvements were mandatory. I wanted a shield for each of the improved death gliders, I also wanted to add better sensors and finally my final goal was to totally change the design so they could travel through the stargate. It was an aberration that we have to use the needle threaders when an improvement of the original ship would cover both the roles at the same time.

In a way, it was pretty much the philosophy of Goa'uld ships as a whole. They were next to no specialized ships. The Ha'tak was a troop transport and attack ship, the Al'kesh was a bomber and troop transport. Only the Tel'tak was a specialized scout ship, and even then it was often repurposed. I had plans to create specific ships for any future fleet that I would commander, but it was not to be for the moment. Maybe when I am free to act as I wish, unburdened by the System Lords. I had enough room to start making the plans themselves though. It was a work that would span decades or even centuries, so it was better to start as soon as possible.

I had the time to start to make the basic energy consumption for the new death glider I was planning. And there was a big problem with it: the naqahdah generators that were available to us were insufficient or too voluminous for such small crafts. I would have to rethink the technology behind those generators before those improved gliders would be up for production.

Those past three months also gave me plenty of time to meditate and talk with Maya. We talked about my ambitions, freedom and how I would achieve it. Of my future empire and how I would rule it to avoid such rebellions to happen. It was a long road in front of me, and I wasn't ungrateful of Maya and her astute comments. She was a surprisingly intelligent girl despite her initial primitive background, and I felt that the decision to keep her around and be nice to her was one of the best I ever made. Having her was just useful.

I sighed and looked toward Bubastis with a smile. There was no point in trying to think about all the work I still had to do. It was better to concentrate on the present. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an incoming communication. It was probably Bastet or one of her Lieutenants. And indeed it was Marduk's face that greeted me.

"Identify yourself or be destroyed."

An amused smile appeared on my lips.

"Greetings my Lord, I am Lilith."

His face lost his tension immediately and a small smile appeared on his lips.

"Ah, Lilith, I wondered when you would arrive. Dock the ship next to the capital city and go to our Lady's palace. She wants to talk to you personally."

I wasn't worried at all about that, I did my job and went beyond what was expected of me.

"It will be done my Lord, I should warn you though, I have one of the Tok'ra as a prisoner. Should I bring him to our Lady?"

He nodded, a predatory smirk on his face and added a last comment before closing the communication.

"Very good initiative. Keep him stunned for the moment and bring him with you, I will wait for you there."

Well, it was time to face the Lady Bastet and finally join the civilization once again after three months of isolation.

* * *

Several grenades took care of knocking the Tok'ra out and it was without any problem that I reached Lady Bastet's palace a little less than an hour after. Marduk was indeed at the entrance waiting for me, and I saw him tense and clench his fists as he saw the prisoner hauled over my shoulder. He then relaxed and smiled slightly toward me.

"Let's go Lilith, our Lady is waiting for us."

I nodded and rearranged the man on my shoulder before following Marduk. I didn't know the place at all so it was only logical that he was here to guide me. Soon enough, we reached the throne room and I finally faced Lady Bastet. If I didn't know better, I would actually believe that she was a goddess. There was no doubt that her host had been carefully selected for her outstanding beauty, and the clothes that adorned her were absolutely magnificent. All in all, she was a striking figure, and for a second I even forgot to kneel. Fortunately for my continued survival, my brain soon caught up to me and I kneeled in front of her, carefully laying my prisoner in front of me.

Her eyes went from me to the Tok'ra several times before a positively carnassial smile appeared on her face.

"Why Lilith, I didn't know you would be bringing me such a delightful gift."

I was very much surprised at that comment and threw an inquisitive glance toward Marduk. Not that it wasn't a good thing for me, it was very beneficial to me after all, but I didn't expect someone like him to give me an advantage like that when he could have easily gleamed a little of the recognition for that act. It was him who ordered me to capture the ship after all. Maybe it was a thank you for my help? I didn't know and didn't want to make a mistake. I would tell the truth when asked and hope that I would suffice.

I looked toward Bastet once again and bowed my head.

"I live to serve my Lady."

A soft chuckle followed my answer.

"So submissive, or are you?" Any mirth seemed to leave her face after that. "Do not play me for a fool Lilith, I am not so arrogant so I would fall for such base flattery. I have not become a System Lord by being naive."

I didn't know how to answer that. Did I act too submissive? Did she know that I was hiding my potential? I glanced toward Marduk and saw his impassive face. Did he expect this? I guess I could be a little more honest. I stayed silent for the moment, waiting for her to continue.

"I had Marduk make several reports of your conduct these past few years. Perfect obedience, no resentment, a very good subordinate. But there was something I didn't see, ambition. And let me tell you, in the many millennia that I lived, I've seen no Goa'uld without ambition. So I will know it, you will tell me right here and right now what is your goal, why you do act like that. Or… well, you won't like the consequences."

She glowered at me, waiting for an answer. Did I risk it? I had to expose some of my plans, that was for sure. She was too crafty to be fooled by half truths.

"You are right in that I hid my ambitions my Lady. I guess it is freedom. I'm not one to want to become a System Lord, I would really dislike the power struggle, so I wouldn't betray you like that. But my goal in the future is to become useful enough that I could become somewhat independent. Well, except from the council of the System Lords of course, but no Goa'uld who wants to live would dare to disobey them."

She looked at me with calculative eyes, seemingly judging my trustworthiness. She then smiled coldly.

"You are much more intelligent that you let appear it would seem. I assume that you hid it so that you would not end as one of my researchers for life?"

I actually panicked slightly at that. It would be the worst possible thing that could happen to me. She must have seen my expression because she laughed before continuing.

"You do not even have to answer. Your youth betrays you, you cannot fully control your emotions. It is of no matter. Contrarily as you may think, I am not one to make unnecessary enemies, nor to waste potential resources. You will not be placed with my researchers, but I want to make several things clear. As long as you are under my service, you will not act dumb as you did until now. Anything that you create I will allow you to keep, but I will have a copy for myself. And when the day comes that you think you can escape my control, I will come after you once with all my might. Should you survive, you will have earned your freedom. Should you be captured, you will end as a researcher for as long as you live. There will be no other option for you."

It was actually extremely reasonable from her, and literally the best that I could expect. She knew that I wouldn't go after her life or her power-base so this was a good compromise. And for the going only once after me when I defect was pretty smart too. If I managed to survive after she attacks me with all her might, that meant that to continue to target me wouldn't be worth it, too costly in resources and soldiers. I was better on my own. She knew that I would not betray the Goa'uld as a whole. Crossing Ra was stupid beyond belief.

And even beyond that, she knew that even if I wouldn't share everything I create with her, I would share enough so that she can have an advantage over other System Lords. I had proved that I was competent after all.

"I am most grateful of this offer Lady Bastet, I can assure you that I will not forget your leniency."

She nodded once before relaxing.

"Rise Lilith, no more of that dreary business. Marduk told me of your actions and of the very good job you did with the upgrades on his flagship. It was deemed good enough by my researchers that they decided to apply it to my very own ship. All in all, you deserve a reward for your work so far. You will have access to a hundred Jaffa of your choosing and a ton of naqahdah. You will also have your own house with a workshop in my city."

She then turned toward Marduk.

"Marduk, show her where her new house is and the location of the Jaffa villages on Bubastis, and have one of the death gliders delivered to her. Come back here immediately after, I have to talk to you."

He bowed and looked toward me. I stood up, bowed toward Bastet and followed Marduk out of the room. Once I was outside the palace, I actually started to shake slightly, my nerves being shot by the encounter and the adrenaline coming down. Bastet was terrifying, not by her cruelty but by the sheer perceptiveness and presence that she possessed. Marduk didn't fail to notice that and turned toward me.

"You did well in there Lilith, our Lady does that to every one of her subjects, and has executed more than one on the spot. That she rewarded you afterward despite that little misconduct of yours was actually pretty impressive. Although, freedom? Have I been that bad a Lord that you would be eager to leave me Lilith?"

He seemed actually amused by that, and I was surprised by the fact he would joke about it. I let a smile appear on my own features.

"Had you been a bad Lord my Lord, I would be plotting your death as a part of my freedom. No, it has nothing to do with you, or anyone else for that matter. That's simply as it is, I yearn for freedom, as would others yearn to become a System Lord."

He seemed pensive at that, before nodding.

"I see, I don't fully understand but I can see what you mean. Do not mistake my intentions though. I will be one hundred percent behind Bastet the day she chases you down."

We continued our travel toward my new home in silence, and I thought once again about the meeting with the System Lord. I was extremely lucky that Bastet was considered one of the 'nicer' Goa'uld around. Word of her compassion for women and children was spread around all corners of the galaxy. But what most were forgetting was the uncanny intelligence and the perception that she possessed. Any other Goa'uld would have seen me dead for my answer. But she didn't. She recognized my potential and would probably milk it for all she could until the moment I defect. It was wise of her and I couldn't help but respect her a bit more.

* * *

I was at the main Jaffa village, watching two young warriors fighting each other. It had been a couple of weeks since that meeting with Bastet, and I still hadn't found the one that would become my first prime. I had taken steps toward it though, monitoring the villages with small probes hidden inside each and every house and on the village square. I had visited the place several times and it was easy for me to place them. And I had finally enough data for me to make a choice. Unsurprisingly enough, the male Jaffa were too young to be of immediate use, Bastet having recruited the best recently to reinforce her regular troops. Her guard, constituted essentially of females, was of superior quality and training, so their losses had been low enough that she didn't need to recruit more. My only reasonable choice was then to emulate Lady Bastet and choose female Jaffas instead of the too young male.

I had a dilemma though. From my probes, I could tell that the most promising Jaffa in the camp was one named Kyra. The problem though, was the words she spoke in her home about the Goa'uld. It was distressing and I had thought a couple of times to turn her in, but an intervention from Maya gave me pause. I could probably turn that to my advantage and gain her absolute loyalty. I just had to be careful in my approach and what I would tell her.

The elders of the village knew that I was looking for my first Prime, so I was allowed to choose who I wanted to see fighting. Soon I asked for Kyra to fight one of their best male Jaffa, to see if my potential choice was worth it. She was a bit smaller than him, probably around 1m72, but I could see a decently muscled frame, seemingly ridiculous compared to her opponent's bulging muscles. And yet she showed in the fight that despite her disadvantage in terms of reach and sheer strength, she more than compensated with her agility, speed, skill and tenacity.

The fight did not last long and ended with her slightly hurt and her opponent unconscious on the ground. I looked toward the elders and pointed toward Kyra, a small smile on my lips. They understood and left, knowing that I didn't need them anymore.

I approached the dark skinned Jaffa that was about to become my prime and smiled.

"Congratulation on your win young Jaffa, and on your new position as my first prime."

Her eyes widened at that and she was speechless for at least a dozen seconds before she managed to answer, her dark brown eyes avoiding mine.

"G-Goddess, it's an honor."

I chuckled and patted her on the shoulder, something that I saw left her uncomfortable. I probably didn't match her vision of a Goa'uld.

"Why, thank you. Say goodbye to your family and join me to my death glider in ten minutes. Take any possession you need but bear in mind that you will receive a new equipment due to your position."

She nodded before running toward a hut I knew housed her parents. They would be proud of her, I knew that too.

* * *

She obeyed my order and was to my glider exactly ten minutes after I let her say her goodbye to her family. It was a good quality, more points in her favor. I let her take the co-pilot seat in the glider and locked the controls before taking off. The journey was short and silent, and soon we found ourselves to my domain. I was surprised when I first saw the 'house' Bastet assigned to me. It was literally a whole village, big enough to house the hundred warriors I was promised comfortably. The workshop was bare, but it would change soon enough, I just didn't have the time yet to work on better tools. In the middle of it lay the naqahdah I was given, a pile of small ingots nearly as tall as I was.

Kyra was judging the compound and apparently it was to her tastes. I ordered her to follow me and soon we found ourselves in my home. It was decently furnished, denoting my wealth without rubbing it in. I took a device and talked to the Jaffa female.

"Disrobe Kyra."

Her eyes widened at the sight of the device and she hesitated a little but obeyed. I could see both the anger and fear in her eyes though, she thought I was going to torture her, and had probably suffered such a torture in the past.

I activated the device and I could see her flinch as it started to act, but she understood quickly that something different from what she expected was happening. Looking upon herself, she could see her bruises disappear one after the other. She moved a little and an expression of wonder appeared on her face.

"You… healed me Goddess?"

I chuckled a little and nodded.

"You are of no use to me wounded."

I then gave her some new clothing, nothing fancy but still good enough to be an improvement over her old outfit.

"Take this and dress yourself. You won't get an armor immediately, I'm still working on it, but you don't need it for the moment. I compiled a listing of all the potential Jaffa in the camps on my computer, and you will choose the ninety nine others that I will recruit. I will of course review your choices, but I trust you enough to do this job correctly. Do you know how to use the computer?"

She finished to dress and shook her head in answer.

"No Goddess, I have never used such a device before."

I nodded.

"I see, then I will teach you. And Kyra?"

She looked at me, a little curious.

"Yes?"

I smiled.

"No need to call me Goddess in private, call me Lady or my Lady or Lady Lilith."

Her eyes widened but she nodded quickly.

"As you wish my Lady."

* * *

After teaching her to use the computer, I retired to my private quarters and started my meditation, immediately talking to Maya.

'Hello Maya.'

Immediately I could hear her voice.

'Hello Lilith. Are you sure letting her do this is wise? You even left her own file in the computer, and you know what she's going to find inside it. She may even attempt to assassinate you.'

A chuckled a little and smiled.

'I know what I'm doing Maya, or at least I think I know. One of the Tok'ra main weapon is the arrogance of the Goa'uld and the ignorance of their warriors and slaves that they turn against them. I may have told Bastet I would not turn against the Goa'uld as a whole but I clearly recognize that the way they rule their domains is flawed. I need a personal guard that knows the truth about our kind, and is even more loyal thanks to it. She's to be the first of them, she already has doubts. Should it work, I will be that much stronger. If it doesn't, she'll be killed and I'll find someone less… spirited to take as my prime.'

She was silent for a few minutes before asking me a question, curiosity clearly present in her voice.

'What is your goal, what will your domain look like?'

I smiled wistfully.

'In my Empire, my subject will be happy, they will love me because I will be fair to them, and fear me because the ones who betray me or ignore my laws will be made examples. All will know the truth about the Goa'uld but still accept me as their Empress. There will be no rebellion, no revolt. Fear for fear's sake doesn't work, we saw that on the Tau'ri, and just having them love me may be dangerous for me. So I will endeavor to try to be both feared and loved. We'll see how that goes.'

She was pretty happy with that vision, I could feel it.

'And the Tok'ra?'

Immediately, my mood worsened.

'The scum will find no ground to grow a rebellion in my empire. I will kill any Tok'ra that I find trying to corrupt what is mine!'

I was getting worked out, and I knew it, but Maya simply chuckled.

'Temper Lilith, temper…'

I found myself smiling at that. Despite a few scares here and there, life was good.

* * *

**So this is it, if you have any comment, constructive criticism or simply want to show your support, don't hesitate to leave a review.**

**Ttfn!**


	4. Recruitment

**Hello everyone, I had this ready for... well, since the last chapter came out, but since it will be a busy couple of months for me, I preferred to just wait a bit, write the next chapter and all. But it's been more than a week and well, since it was already ready I said to myself 'screw this, I'll post the chapter' and here it is.**

**So it's a bit of an info dump at times, but it's kind of voluntary. If there was one thing I did not like in the original version of this fic, that was Voider's habit of having Lilith pull technology, resources and more importantly crafting stations out of nowhere. You're not able to create a super armor exoskeleton which can 'remember' martial arts with your bare hands. You need tools to forge and craft the delicate energy pathways, you need to create a powerful energy source, you need to engrave the processing crystals. And all of that can be easily noticed by Bastet since you have to go through her underlings to get said tools.**

**So I'm going really slow for the moment with new technologies, things will pick up a lot more once Lilith get her own planet away from prying eyes.**

**Now, I thank all of you who read this story, added it to your favorites and/or follow it. And I double thank those who added a comment too!**

**Yup, talking to you : iitrnr, thunder18, Fan01, karthik9, nachtdemon, OMAC001 and Phoenixbat. Thanks guys.**

**iitrnr, thunder18, Fan01, karthik9 : Thanks, I'll try to keep updating somewhat regularly but I'm busy as hell at the moment so it may be a little slower.**

**nachtdemon : Thanks. It will share a lot of things with the original, but there will be a lot more added too, and I want to be very thorough with what I write. I hate plot holes so I'll endeavor to try and avoid those.**

**Phoenixbat : Well, yeah, she does. It may seem a bit irrational right now, but the Tokra helped with the revolt of the Tau'ri and well, she's taking Iltani's defection real hard. And it's all the Tok'ra's fault. Yay!**

**OMAC001 : Thanks. I answered you in PM but for everyone else, it's the Ohnes, not Unas, the blue aliens we see in the 'Fire and Water' episode in season one. I'll try to stay as canon as possible (except when I warn you about it beforehand)**

**So, talking about it, I want your opinion on something. At first when I started to write about it, I had no real plans for the moment where the timeline will reach canon. But now I've thought about it quite abit and I was thinking of using one of the 'canon' Alternate universes to be the one where Lilith is based on. I was thinking on the one without Daniel Jackson on the team, the first one we see just before Apophis' attack of Earth. I just don't want an Earth that does like in the Stargate shows : has all the luck, never suffer any great defeat and ends up with every non human ally/enemy dead or neutered.**

**It's all very hypothetical for now, and we have quite a while to wait until we reach this point, but I wanted to ask you about your opinion, so don't hesitate.**

**Oh, and my beta is still MIA, so if someone wants to take the role, don't hesitate to ask. This probably will explain all the little mistakes that may lay around here and there. **

**So now that I got this out, enjoy!**

* * *

**2993 BC, Lilith's domain, Bubastis.**

* * *

As I woke up after, I thought about all that I had to do. It was be a very long day that awaited me. I sighed, trying to cut off Maya's amusement over my situation and headed toward Kyra's quarters. I had an inkling that she was not in the best of conditions on this fine morning. The files I had on the Jaffa may not have been exhaustive, because I had not that much time to collect all the necessary data, but it was enough information to make her uncomfortable, especially hers. Having pointed your possible lack of loyalty by the very Goa'uld who hired you was a pretty daunting situation.

And indeed, when I entered the room I had given her, I saw her turn toward me and flinch, dread fully visible on her face. I kept my own expression neutral and move to stand a meter in front of her, simply looking at her and staying silent. I knew it wasn't nice to play with her fears like that but I felt it was necessary. I didn't have to wait for long though, after a couple dozen of seconds she broke the silence.

"Are… Are you going to kill me Goddess?"

I raised an eyebrow at that, knowing very well that she had doubts that we Goa'uld were gods. It was strange for her to be that respectful when I could just be about to kill her. Maybe she simply didn't want to die. It was of no consequence.

"I am fully aware of your views Kyra, and I told you already how you could call me in private yesterday."

She seemed shocked and completely lost after that comment of mine. I was correcting her for something like that and at the same time I had ignored her question.

"I do not understand Go… er, my Lady."

I let a small smile appear on my lips at that and nodded.

"Of course you do not." I moved to sit on a chair not too far from her. "Contrarily of what you may think, no, I am not here to kill you. I have chosen you to become my first prime for a reason after all."

She blinked, her body losing some of the tension she was under.

"I… I am grateful, but why? You know what I think." She turned to look toward the computer. "There wasn't a lot of details, but there was enough for anyone else to kill me."

I sighed and nodded curtly.

"Of course, and if it was any other Goa'uld but myself, you may be already dead by this time. I think that most would have killed you in your village in front of everybody to teach them a lesson in loyalty and obedience. But I did not. Do you know why?"

She made to shake her head in denial before stopping with a pensive look on her face.

"Because I do not blindly obey the Gods? Are you Tok'ra my Lady?"

A good conclusion with the information she had, but totally wrong as it was. I couldn't help the anger that was bubbling inside me though. It must have shown on my face because I could see her fear at the face I was making. I growled through my teeth.

"Never call me a Tok'ra. I'll personally slaughter any of those backstabbing scumbag I'll find." I closed my eyes and breathed deeply to recover my calm. In a matter of seconds, I was in control of myself again. "Sorry about that, it's a bit of a sore point for me. But yes, your lack of a blind obedience is one of the reasons why I chose you. Fact is, most of the Jaffa are simply minions. Don't take it personally, it's not an insult, simply how you were brought up. Blindly obeying orders of your gods in fear of being killed. I have no need of a minion as my first prime. I need someone able to think, someone intelligent enough to be able to disapprove of some of my plans and propose a better alternative. That's where you come in. I do not know who or what gave you the idea of us not being gods, but you took that information and kept it, believing it above what you were taught all your life." I looked at her in the eyes and smiled tightly. "And you are right. We are no gods."

She let out a gasp at that, maybe at having her theory confirmed or maybe because I was admitting it myself, despite being a goddess.

"I don't understand, why telling me that? I mean, do you not fear that I could turn traitor?"

I raised an eyebrow at her, my expression slightly disbelieving.

"I think you are far too intelligent to try and turn traitor on me. You know what would happen in that case. And to be honest, why would you? I am giving you a post of responsibility, one in which you will have a voice to convey your opinion. I believe myself a fair leader and I think you, and the other Jaffa I will choose as my army, may thrive under my rule. By telling you the truth, I show you some trust and at the same time remove one way the Tok'ra can turn you against me. If you tell the other Goa'uld what I just told you, and we will get executed. I did not choose you because you were a traitor Kyra, I chose you because you were intelligent and a potential asset for my future domain."

She was shocked by what I said and I could see her embarrassment at my praise. I knew she was thinking about her choices and she sighed before answering.

"I am grateful my Lady, and I trust you. May you be as cruel a leader as the other Goa'uld, I will try my luck elsewhere though."

I grinned when I heard those words. I knew I made the right choice with her, she did not hesitate to tell what she was feeling. That's what I wanted for a first prime.

"Then I guess I have nothing to fear." I turned serious a few seconds later and gestured toward the computer. "Let's talk about your choices for my Jaffa first, and then we'll take care of your formal introduction as my first prime."

She nodded hesitantly and turned toward the computer, slowly bringing up several Jaffa profiles.

"You told me you had the right to have a hundred Jaffa, me included, so I thought about having two divisions. Ten would be your guards, myself and nine others, and we could have ninety regular fighters. Here are the ten I thought were the best for your personal guard."

I looked at the Jaffas, taking in their strengths and weaknesses, accepting several and refusing some. They were all good warriors and all of them were female, which was a bit surprising, but some didn't have the mindset that I wanted for my personal guard.

"I agree with some of these, but there are others that I cannot accept. I want my personal guard to be able to act without my direct order for my interests. Strength and skill can be taught, but personal initiative is something that a soldier either has or simply hasn't." I stopped myself for a second before looking toward Kyra with a smile on my face. "And all female? Are you trying to emulate Lady Bastet's guard?"

She seemed to blush a little at that, much to my amusement.

"Well, she is the only one to use female as guards and soldiers, so I thought why shouldn't we try to recruit them too? They are an untapped and valuable resource."

I nodded with a smile.

"Exactly, I agree with you on that point. Too many Goa'uld ignore such a massive portion of the Jaffa population. Not that I do not understand them, with their reckless use of the Jaffa warriors, there is a need for a great number of women to help maintain the population. But some of these women are more at ease on the battlefield than at home, and those are the ones I want as my troops." I then stood up and smiled toward Kyra. "I'll let you a couple of hours to choose the nine Jaffa that will serve as my guard… or, well, replacements for the four that did not suit my purpose in your original choice. I will be busy during this time so don't bother to look for me."

She bowed and I nodded back, making my exit. I had some equipment to buy.

* * *

To say it was a profitable endeavor was a mistake. Oh, I managed to buy some basic equipment to forge the naqahdah and engrave crystals of various sizes, but it could only be the very basics of any laboratory, and it cost me nearly a fourth of a ton of naqahdah. It did seem like a lot, and in a sense it was, but with the equipment I bought and the naqahdah I had left, I had enough to create the weapons of my Jaffa and maybe even improve on them. There would be a problem for the armor though, a hundred armors to make was a huge expenditure of naqahdah, one that I could not make blindly. I had also bought a set of Jaffa armor, a ma'tok staff and a Zat'nik'tel. Those would get useful for me to experiment on.

I sighed and entered my house silently, thinking about the future. There was only so much that I could do with the resources that I had. Maybe I should even reconsider getting all of the one hundred Jaffa that were allotted to me and simply get half. That would definitely be easier to handle from a logistical point of view. I risked to weaken myself though, so I had to take it into consideration.

I was broken out of my reverie by the sight of Kyra pointing her weapon toward me. I was taken by an irrational surge of rage before I saw her relax and bow toward me.

"My excuses my Lady, I thought it was someone else."

I understood where she came from, but that didn't mean I was totally rational about it. And from my overwhelming anger, I knew I wasn't over Iltani's betrayal. My tone was cold when I answered.

"I understand, but that doesn't mean that I accept it. Do not point your weapon toward me ever again. I will not be as nice as I am right now."

I sighed and forced myself to relax, being helped in this by Maya who sensed my emotions go haywire. She seemed to understand that I was not really happy right now so she simply bowed once again.

"Of course my Lady, it won't happen again."

I nodded before sighing and sitting next to the computer on her desk.

"Let's forget about this little incident, do you have your recommendations for the guard?"

She nearly immediately switched to a more professional stance, which made me smile despite myself. She was good at what she did.

"Yes my Lady, here are the replacements for the four who did not suit your purposes. I especially took into consideration their independence and tactical thinking."

And indeed for three of the four new profiles, all the information provided was in accordance with my desires. It was the fourth that made me frown. There was no indication of anything like that in the profile itself. I looked toward Kyra.

"You know her?"

It was the only thing that made sense, she was obviously competent enough, so there must be a good reason this particular Jaffa was chosen. And indeed she nodded.

"Yes my Lady. Her profile was… incomplete, I worked with her in the village and she suits your purposes, I can assure you."

I looked at her for several seconds before nodding. I let her make that choice, so I had to trust her at least a little, loathe as I was to trust again. I would keep an eye on her friend though, just in case.

"So be it, if you say she is good, I will trust your judgment. We will get the nine of them tomorrow. Now though, I will ask your opinion about our situation."

And with that, I started to explain to her our resources, the number of Jaffa that I was allotted and the logistical problems that I feared to encounter. She immediately agreed that I could not, with a little less than 750 kg of naqahdah, make weapons and armors for a hundred Jaffa. She had seen a full Jaffa armor before, as did I, and we both agreed that it was clearly impossible. With the weapons to create two, we both agreed on fifty Jaffas at first, with a full set of armor and a weapon, and then we would see what was left.

I thanked her for her work and ideas and told her to train as she was used to. I then decided to go to my workshop to think of a way I could improve the standard weapon and armor of the Goa'uld. While they were impressive, it was the only advantage they had. The staff weapon was slow and lacked precision at long range, the Zat'nik'tel while more efficient was far more costly in resources, and the standard Jaffa armor was good to fight and scare primitives, but against modern weapons, even relatively weak ones like the staff weapon, it was hopelessly outmatched.

If I even wanted for my small amount of Jaffa to be competitive, I would need to make improvements. And fast.

* * *

It had been a long day. I had worked from the very moment I entered my workshop, making plans of the traditional Jaffa armor and the ma'tok staff weapon. My first priority while working on the weapon was to think of what I could do to improve it. The range and power of the weapon were good but the precision was not that good and the rate of fire was simply crippling. Those were the first points I should improve. A second part is that the blast itself is fairly large, which meant a huge penetration power in the center and far less on the sides of the blast. That was a problem in that the power in the center was great enough to kill the victim, so anything else was useless, and even worse, a waste of energy and time to charge the weapon.

I was orienting myself toward a smaller plasma weapon, with blasts of energy emitted in an increased cadency. The cadency was easier. The power would be continuously transmitted to the muzzle of the weapon and as soon as enough energy was collected to form a small pellet of plasma, it would be projected and another would take its place. With the charge rate of the current weapons, I could easily achieve a rate of fire of two or three blasts a second. Not a lot, but still a huge improvement from the blast every two or three seconds of the standard staffs. I was pretty confident I could create the weapon pretty easily in the future.

I had to wait half an hour to get all the equipment that I had bought, and I used both the armor and the ma'tok staff immediately, putting the armor around a wooden mannequin and firing on it from close range with the staff. The result was immediate, the armor was destroyed on the point of impact and the wooden target underneath was transpierced by the bolt of hot plasma. Hell, even the other side of the armor was damaged, not fully destroyed but it had become red hot. The interesting thing though, was that the blast had been diffused by the armor, the heat spreading to a far greater surface than simply the point of impact. It was somewhat normal, with naqahdah being an excellent energy conductor, and it would be useful to improve the armor. The greatest problem with the current armor was that the diffusive factor of the naqahdah was not sufficient to fully evacuate the heat from the blast before the armor melted. To make a new armor I would need to superpose different materials, one heat resistant next to one heat conducting and so on. The heat from the initial impact would be spread to an important surface, and then decreased by going through the heat resistant material. Then another weave of naqahdah armor underneath would spread whatever remained of the initial blast and a second layer of heat resistant armor would fully protect the body. The armor wouldn't be efficient against repetitive assaults, but the Jaffa would be able to survive a couple of hits in the same place or a bit more if it was in different places. More than that and they risked to be cooked in their own armor.

I just had to find what material I could use with the naqahdah, and that was pretty easy with my genetic memory. There were several that could be used. A kind of expensive but comfortable fabric and a specially treated leather, far cheaper could be used. I was pretty sure that my Jaffa would prefer the fabric, but I just didn't have the funds for the moment, so they would do with the leather. I personally liked my comfort and the cost for one suit of armor was not prohibitive so I would use the fabric. Each armor would have to be custom made for each Jaffa, so I couldn't determine how much of the leather I would have to buy, but I could make a bulk order to start with.

After a word to Kyra, I was once again off toward the quartermaster of the palace. I knew he would have enough to make my armor and even Kyra's. I had time for the others.

* * *

It had been three days since I started to work on the armors and weapons, and Kyra and I had agreed to delay our recruitment of the troops until it was complete. I had received the materials to create the armor and I had bought enough crystals to complete the weapons, leaving me with a little less than six hundred kilograms of naqahdah to craft the weapons and armors, more than enough to complete everything.

I had made several tests with the new armor design and I was pretty pleased with its resilience. Oh, it was far from being the perfect armor, but with its two micrometric chainmail weaves of naqahdah, two layers of leather and enough naqahdah plates to protect the joints from any concussive damage from the blasts, it was the best armor I could make. It was a little on the heavy side, totaling twenty five kilograms for a full armor, but with their enhanced strength, the Jaffa would have no problem moving in it. It was still lighter than the traditional armor.

I had reconsidered making myself some armor, at first, knowing that I could add relatively easily a shield on my kara'kesh, but I also knew that some prudence couldn't hurt me. My personal armor was a red and grey armor, mixing a heavier naqahdah chainmail weave and a red fabric. I too had naqahdah plates protecting my joints but the principal use of my armor would be to repel primitive weapons and not ma'tok blasts. When I have the time and resources to do so, I would try to create a full purpose armor for myself and my troops, but it was years or even decades in the future.

The weapons itself was a frank success. Oh, I had to redesign it several times, to improve the stability and precision, but except for that, it went perfectly. The final draft was a forearm-length grey weapon, with two grips, one close to the muzzle of the weapon and another next to the trigger itself, and a butt added to rest against the shoulder for more stability and precision. Contrarily to the usual Goa'uld design, I chose to use a weapon that could be disassembled in multiple parts to facilitate maintenance. On the middle is the naqahdah cell that powers the plasma bolts and on top of it, a visor has been added and properly calibrated to increase the precision of the weapon itself. It was not a weapon of intimidation but a weapon of war, and it was what I wanted.

The weapon itself introduced several problems. First was that I had no way to bind it to my Jaffa, which meant they could be taken from them. The second was their power, since even my new armor, which was resistant to the traditional ma'tok weapon, lasted only four seconds when targeted. The last one and most important one was the huge impact that they would have on my Jaffas close range ability. All their youth, they were taught to fight using staff weapons. Now I would introduce a new weapon, one that was more efficient, but also totally different. That entirely changed the way a fight could go, and they would have to train themselves from the ground up to adapt.

One last thing that annoyed me was the lack of helmets. That was something that bothered me because it was obvious that the head was a huge weak spot. The problem was that I had no way to make a proper helmet that wouldn't hinder them with my current resources and time constraint. So I had to do without for the moment, like every regular Jaffa.

When I presented the weapons and armors to Kyra, she seemed dubitative at first. They didn't look that impressive after all. Then I showed her the increased performance of the weapon and the additional protection from the armor and there was no complaint anymore. If anything she seemed nearly giddy to get to work with them. And coming from a Jaffa, that was saying something.

* * *

As much as I hated that, I had a promise to fulfill. It was why before recruiting the rest of my guard, I was waiting for Lady Bastet to become ready to receive me. Were it a much more discreet piece of technology, I would have thought a bit more before giving it to her, but since all my troops would get the new armor and weapon, I couldn't avoid her scrutiny and decided to simply give her what I created. It wasn't as if I revolutionized Goa'uld technology, I just did a bit of thinking to improve what already existed.

It was soon that I was accepted in Bastet's opulent throne room, where she was comfortably sitting, attended by her servants. As she saw me enter with a crate, I could see an amused smile appear on her lips and she dismissed them, before standing up.

"Ah, Lilith, I didn't expect you to come and see me so soon after our last meeting."

I nodded at her words and smiled slightly myself.

"As much as I like being here in your company my Lady, it was not something I planned either. My last few days were much more productive that I expected them to be and I am here to fulfil our agreement."

She smiled slightly, seemingly amused by my words.

"You have a silver tongue as always Lilith, but please, let's not waste both our precious time and show me what you have created."

I nodded and opened the crate.

"You see my Lady, I was… displeased by both the armor and weapon of our Jaffa. They were substandard at best, more suited to intimidate and defend against primitives than against our fellow Goa'ulds' armies. So I made to change that as much as I could with my limited resources. My first work was this weapon." I picked up and handed Bastet the new plasma rifle. "The ma'tok staff weapon had two glaring problems. A lack of precision and a poor rate of fire. So I made this weapon. It fire between two and three plasma bolts per second, with a great precision up to one hundred meters. The bolts themselves are less powerful than a classical staff weapon, but the increased rate of fire and precision more than make up for it."

She got up and told me to follow her with the crate holding the armor, and we soon found ourselves into a training room with half a dozen Jaffa training inside. The women, since Bastet's troops are all women like I planned to do, bowed toward their Goddess and moved to the side, letting her access to all the targets. After a few seconds, she placed the weapon correctly against her shoulder and shot at the targets. It was not perfect at first, but she adapted quickly and soon did not miss the targets anymore. A pleased smile was on her lips as she turned toward me, and I couldn't help to smile myself at both her expression and the awe of the Jaffa surrounding us.

"I am very pleased with your work Lilith, this weapon is impressive. How does it fare against…"

She looked at me and I nodded, knowing what she meant. Immediately, she turned the weapon against me and shot me, the plasma bolts crashing harmlessly on the shield I produced from my kara'kesh.

"As you can see my Lady, despite its increased potency it is still far from enough to harm us."

She nodded, once again smiling and held onto the weapon as she looked at me.

"Very well, what about the armor?"

I nodded and brought out the several pieces of armor, and quickly donned them, earning myself a curious glance from Bastet.

"As you can see, the armor seems to be made exclusively from naqahdah. It is false. The problem is that with a single naqahdah armor, ma'tok blasts transpierce the armor without trouble at short range. So I experimented and decided to use a composite armor, using both a microscopic naqahdah weave and a heat resistant leather. The results talk from themselves." Once I was fully donning the armor, I nodded toward one of the Jaffa. "Come here and shoot me with a ma'tok staff. Point blank, don't hesitate."

The woman was greatly surprised and looked toward Bastet in askance, our Lady simply nodding to authorize her to do it. She took the staff weapon and activated it before approaching me. The staff muzzle rested against my stomach for a couple of seconds before she fires, sending me tumbling backwards from the concussive force.

This was no surprise for me, I knew that the concussive impact of the plasma on the armor would be a bitch, but I did not experience it before and I was left lying on the floor for a second before I shakily stood up.

"As you can see, there is no damage from the blast itself. Well, the armor is damaged…" And indeed, all could see the red hot armor with a hole inside, the burnt leather underneath and even a second layer of naqahdah. "… but there is no damage to me at all, from a point blank shot. Well, the concussive force of the weapon was not stopped by the armor, but it was not the goal. Such a tumble is child's play to recover from for Jaffa and at a distance the impact can easily be resisted."

Bastet nodded once again, easily seeing my point. This would be a revolution for our troops, and I knew she could see her troops winning in situations they couldn't before thanks to these improvements.

"You did a very good job with those Lilith, and I trust you to be intelligent enough to know that these upgrades must stay between us." I rolled my eyes with a smile, showing her that I was at least intelligent enough not to waste such an opportunity. "Were it not for your… ambition, I would probably name you my chief researcher after this. You show great promise, and it will be my pleasure to reward you for those gifts you gave me. You will receive another ton of naqahdah in a couple of days. That should be enough to equip all of the troops you were granted and not simply a fraction of them."

I widened my eyes at that and chuckled softly. So she knew what she was doing when she gave me too little naqahdah to equip all my troops. The more I was near her, the more I respected her and disliked the thought of having her as my enemy. She had a great mind and clearly was more cunning than the average Goa'uld.

"I thank you my Lady, it will greatly help me and my future troops."

She nodded and smiled once again.

"From your choice of a first prime, should I expect you to follow my example?"

There was no need of saying more, I understood where she was going.

"Yes my Lady, I will indeed choose female Jaffa as my troops."

She nodded and put back the rifle in the crate, waiting for me to remove the armor, before leaving. She had me deposit the crate into one of her laboratories and, after a small discussion with the Goa'uld there, we went back to her throne room.

"I will be honest with you Lilith, as much as I approve of you taking an all-female army, I cannot give you more than the hundred that I have gifted to you. You will have to take your troops elsewhere in the future."

I knew that. One hundred females was not a lot and the local population of Jaffa would survive me taking them, but with both Bastet and I taking females from the villages, if I started to have an army counting in the thousands, it would quickly be a far too heavy toll for the population to endure.

"Of course my Lady, I understand. I will try to look into alternatives should I wish to expand my army in the future."

She nodded and called her servants to her once again. Knowing that I had been dismissed, I bowed to her and left the palace a smile on my lips. It had been a productive day.

* * *

I was now in front of the nine remaining members of my future guard. There were silent, used to be observed. The first was Eerie, Kyra's acquaintance. She seemed like a solid woman, with a good head on her shoulders at first glance, but in the end it didn't really matter what she looked like. I would know soon enough during the training.

The next two were twins. Zyr'na and Zar'na were their names. They were not the best in this group in independent thinking but they more than made up for it with their skills, strength and reflexes. Two strong warriors who were not simply minions, I could not pass them up.

The next one was named Mila. She was shorter, and looked frailer than the others but she was crafty and a good markswoman, even with the ma'tok staffs. With my new weapons, she sure would be a force to reckon with.

Next to her was Ayla. Big, strong dark skinned woman. Good strategist, very decent fighter.

Standing next to her was Eili'ac. It was a bit strange to see her here among Jaffa, she was visibly shy and nervous, but from what I gathered she possessed an uncanny ability to make good plans on the fly and an extremely good tactical mind, so I wanted her as my subordinate. Her simply being a mother at home would be a waste.

Then there was Nymia, the fastest Jaffa in all my guard. She wasn't very strong, nor was she a tactician. But she had the best base speed, reflexes and survival skills of all her village, and so she was here.

The penultimate one was named Erena. She was more of a healer in her village, but she knew how to fight and how to think on her feet. This mix of abilities would prove excellent for the future.

The last Jaffa was a woman named Ryala. What differentiated her from the rest was her mind. She was intelligent and despite the Goa'uld way of trying to keep the Jaffa to a weak technological level, I could see a lot of me in her. Trying to stunt her development would be a waste so I took her as my guard.

I glanced at the nine of them, Kyra standing next to me, before I started to talk.

"You probably know why you are her, so I won't insist too much on it. I am Lilith, and the nine of you, or ten if you consider my first prime Kyra, have been chosen to become my personal guard. I know you would probably expect to see more Jaffa in here, but it isn't what I am planning to do. I will train you all, all ten of you, so you can be up to my standards. I will teach you tactics, strategy, how to use what you would call the magic of the Gods. You will be my hands when I am not here, fully capable to complete any mission I assign to you. The training will be long, and, I can assure you, you will hate me at times. But I do not have a lot of Jaffa, I will only have a hundred at first. So you will have to become the best. I will personally make sure that you are the best. If you have any reservation, this is the last time to quit. I will not tolerate any quitter afterward, nor will I tolerate traitors."

I stopped here and looked toward them all, waiting for any reaction. The first to move was Ryala, who steeled her face and moved forward.

"My Goddess, when you said 'what you would call the magic of the Gods', does that mean that it isn't magic and that we can learn it?"

There was a gasp in the Jaffa and I could see on their faces that they expected me to kill her on the spot and painfully. I simply chuckled and crossed my arms.

"I knew I didn't make a mistake in choosing you. You are right and wrong at the same time. Yes, it is no magic, and you can use most of it, and no, some of the technology needs some naqahdah in your blood that you do not have to activate." I looked toward all of them. "I said too much to let anyone go now. I will be honest with you. What I will teach you can get both you and I killed by the other Goa'uld, and our names erased of history. But I think it is worth the risk. I will not leave you to die. You are my troops, my guard. You will obey me, and I will protect you, I will give you the best tools I have, and will teach you all you need to know to be the best. All I ask of you is your loyalty and obedience to reasonable orders."

There was a sort of uneasy silence before they started to whisper to each other. Then Ayla started to talk.

"From what you told us, you and the other Goa'uld are no Gods, so why should we be loyal to you?"

I nodded at that, surprising them.

"Indeed we aren't. It was a ruse from some of my race to dominate our servants. But I do not believe it is the best. I do not believe in lying to you. Why should you be loyal to me? Well, right now you should not, you have no proof it would be a good thing. I just ask you to trust me, to give me some time to prove to you that I am a leader worth following." I started to pace in front of them. "I will do my best to protect you from the other Goa'ulds but I am not all powerful, and some of you may die. I freely admit it. But I will do my best, I promise you and I will show you."

They looked at each other and nodded. I grinned toward them as I talked once again.

"Perfect then. And when I said that I want you to be the best, I mean it. Kyra, take Ayla and bring the crate here. Let them see their new toys."

She grinned and nodded, signing Ayla to follow her.

* * *

It had been three months since I got all ten members of my guard. They had been very appreciative of their new equipment and had quickly adapted to it. The relatively lighter armor and much more efficient weapon did not pose many problems, except the glaring one that I foresaw, the close combat no longer adapted to their situation. After some discussions and a return to their village to get some information about new close quarter combat options, they told me of another, far less used since it necessitated no weapon at all. It was a martial art relying of high velocity kicks and constant acrobatic movements that was called Mastaba.

An ancient warrior of the village was the only one who knew it, and I was so taken by it that I asked him if he could move to the compound to both teach my troops and let me make records of the training sessions so I could train future troops should something happen to him in the future. The training was of course all but complete after three month, but I had recorded all that the man knew after a single month and thus his help wasn't needed anymore. I paid him generously for his help and let him come back to the village. I trained with my Jaffa, showing to them that I wasn't one to simply watch them training, that I was willing to train with them too. My increased strength and regeneration rate as a Goa'uld greatly increased my learning rate and I was soon able to spar with my Jaffa without risking a humiliating defeat. Not that I sparred with them before that point. I wasn't arrogant, but I wasn't about to let my troops beat me into the ground. Bad for morale that. I still conceded a few defeats here and there, and that made me more human, closer to them.

I also managed to determine the level of naqahdah necessary in the blood to use the healing device of the Goa'uld, and created a week long treatment that would give my troops this level of naqahdah. It was lower than the level of naqahdah I and the other Goa'uld presented in our blood so it would be exceedingly difficult to sense the naqahdah in them. I made a test and only managed to sense it with my cheek pressed against Kyra's torso. She was adorably red and flustered after this and I couldn't help but tease her ever since.

I also started to give my guard some basic notions about Goa'uld technology and explained the use of the computers and some other devices. Only Ryala was interested in a more scientific approach and agreed to become my lab assistant, much to Maya's annoyance. Apparently, my dear host thought that I was replacing her. Which was wrong of course. I needed her and her ideas, but another head and more importantly another pair of hands couldn't do anything but help me in my endeavors.

I was still limited in the number of things I could try to research and the proximity of Bastet's palace and the spies she and her lieutenants had, so I made sure those… special trainings and research was done in a secure room underground. Having nothing to improve with the level of technology at my disposition, I turned myself once again toward ship design, finding Ryala a most enthusiastic and motivated assistant.

All in all, everything was going well.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and please don't hesitate to leave me constructive criticism, reviews and all that you want that isn't outright flaming.**

**Ttfn!**


	5. Eratna

**Hello everyone, been a while and all that, sorry for the delay.**

**Here it is, the fifth chapter of that story. Hmm, to be honest, I was a bit surprised by it myself. It was not really what I had planned, but you may know how it is, you got a plan and start writing and your muse just says 'screw it, I'm taking over.' That's what happened. Before I knew what happened, the chapter was over and a couple of my plans were in shambles. I hesitated a while to modify it to fit my original plans, but in the end I decided otherwise. Who am I to go against my muse after all? **

**So, now is the time for my thanks to the reviewers. Great thanks to Naginator, Keptin, nachtdemon, iitrnr, karthik9, thunder18, OMAC001, grayiron and the couple of guests.**

**Naginator : The sarcophagus is a piece of technology that I will have Lilith modify soon to be honest. Without the nanocytes to keep her alive, she will have to rely on it, and seriously as it is it would greatly screw my plans to have her go insane. Still, I have around a couple hundred years before it becomes an issue. After all, it's the life expectancy of the Tok'ra hosts.**

**Keptin : Thanks, I'll do my best for the updates.**

**nachtdemon : I will try not to let it drag on too slow, usually by using timeskips to get to the relevant parts. As for the normal Goa'uld, you have a very good point, but it is intentional. Lilith is barely ten years old. You can say all you want, but at the moments, her memories, however detached she is of them, are what defines her. All she know is conquering and ruling. Already, she goes at it differently than the common Goa'uld, but the real differences will appear later, when she has a lot more experience and can define herself based on her own memories and not her genetic memory.**

** iitrnr : Thanks, and sorry for the sentences. :S Without a beta, it's a bit difficult for me to get every mistake I make.**

**karthik9 : Thanks!**

**Guests : Thanks for the info, I modified that as soon as you reviewed. And I know about the grammatical errors, unfortunately, I'm still looking for a beta.**

**thunder18 : Thanks!**

**OMAC001 : Thank you, I tried to make things more believable indeed. I'll do my best for the updates.**

**grayiron : That's a... dangerous idea. She will come into contact with the mirror in the future and use it a couple of times, I admit it. But having a base off-reality is something she won't even try. You never know if the other reality is more or less dangerous than the one you live in. That's too much risk, not even talking about the risks of entropic cascade failure. So sorry, that was a good idea but it won't happen.**

**As I said in the reviews, I'm still looking for a beta, so if anyone wants to help, I would be extremely grateful.**

**I write all of this for fun and own nothing.**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

2991 BC, Bubastis

* * *

It had been a little more than two years since I started the training of my personal guard, and half a year later, the rest of my Jaffa. Usually, any other Goa'uld would have let them train without interference or even worse would have sent them into battle before they could train as an unit, but I soon showed them that I wasn't like that.

Of course, I didn't tell all of the troops the truth about myself, which would have been foolish. After all, ten people knowing the truth was a huge security breach. A hundred people would be insanity. I tried not to create any potential traitor. Not until I have my own planet with a secure gate.

I still trained my personal guard to become fully competent with a healing device and the use of Goa'uld technology. They were able to heal fallen troops on the field and manipulate every technology I could teach them to. I couldn't instruct them directly on how to pilot and monitor the systems of a Ha'tak, but they knew enough to guess how to do so when in front of the pilot console in the pel'tak.

I separated the ninety Jaffa in nine groups of ten, all lead by a member of my guard. Each group comported five standard Jaffa, two scouts, and three heavy assault Jaffa.

The standard Jaffa possessed a rifle and the armor that I improved before I recruited them. The scouts wore a leather armor, possessed a set of different paints and the skill to camouflage themselves in nearly any environment, mid-range communicators, some high-quality binoculars and had a zat'nik'tel as a weapon. There were grumbles as I announced the need of such an honor-less specialization, but once I explained the reconnaissance aspects and the way that good scouts could help prepare our army before any encounter, there were enough volunteers to man each squad. Of course, I chose those with the best agility and overall speed to cover the role. They trained under the eyes of Nymia when not in their squads.

The heavy assault Jaffa were also a role that I introduced to them and, not surprisingly, there were a lot more volunteers. There are the strongest and sturdiest of my Jaffa, wearing a reinforced armor made of naqahdah above the standard one, and more importantly had as a weapon a heavy ma'tok staff with two grips so that they can hold it. Said staff was a bigger and heavier than the standard staff and was connected to a backpack worn by the Jaffa for power supply. It had the same rate of fire than the standard ma'tok staff, but the base power of the blasts was greatly improved. The huge inconvenient of the equipment was its weight, easily reaching a hundred and fifty kilograms with the armor. While the improved constitution of the Jaffa allowed for such a weight, it made these troops slow and reduced their agility to nearly nothing. What's more, the precision of the staff weapons and their kick-back made so that the Jaffa had to stay still in a stable position so as to not miss or fall back. They heavily relied on the standard Jaffa to cover them to not allow the enemy to try and go for a head shot.

That was the big problem of those last few years. I had no functional helmet yet for my troops, which made them susceptible to weapon fire and lucky shots. Of course I could have tried to give them basic naqahdah helmets, but these are useless and a headshot would surely kill the Jaffa. I just didn't have the materials yet to create these.

All in all, my army was ready for their first missions. They had time to settle in their specializations and to get used to each member of their squads and to their squad leader. There was nothing else that I could train them in without them experiencing live fire or me coming up with new weapons and technologies.

* * *

That night, as I was prepared to go to sleep, I received a call on my communicator. Immediately I answered, knowing that the only ones that could call me were Marduk and Lady Bastet. It was then to no surprise that I heard Marduk's voice.

"Lilith, our Lady is calling us to the palace. Be there as soon as you can."

I didn't even have the time to answer that my communicator powered down. If he was that hurried, then it meant that it was an emergency. I put on my personal armor and two kara'kesh, one for each of my hands before warning Kyra that I was called to the palace. I knew that I wasn't in danger, but there was a possibility of mobilization, and thus all of her lieutenants being there. I simply wanted to dress to impress. I warned her though to get the troops ready in case we had to go immediately on a campaign.

A dozen minutes later, I was at the entrance of the palace, looking at Marduk. He raised an amused eyebrow at my armor and kara'kesh before entering the palace itself. The walk to the throne room was silent and I soon found myself in the middle of dozen of Goa'ulds, behind Marduk of course, waiting for Bastet to tell us the reason of this meeting.

"You may all wonder why I have called you here apart from a few. That upstart Kuro has decided to encroach on my territory these past few weeks, conquering some of my less defended planets. This cannot be allowed to pass. It's time to show him why I am a System Lord and him a simple bottom feeder with a few minions. I will assign all of you your targets. Prepare your Jaffa and ships, we depart tomorrow."

There was then a short list of planets and Goa'ulds that was given to us, with Bastet attacking Kuro's capital planet and each of her lieutenant attacking either one of the conquered planets or one of Kuro's mining worlds.

Marduk, and by extension myself, were assigned a small mining world by the name of Eratna. It was apparently a fairly minor world, but its resources in naqahdah were interesting enough for it to be targeted.

I turned toward Marduk as we left.

"My Lord, I will prepare my troops, where do you want me go?"

He seemed to think for a few seconds before nodding.

"Go to my domain, I will prepare a troopship to bring your Jaffa to my Ha'tak. Eratna is three weeks away through hyperspace, you will bring their own equipment and provisions, of course."

I nodded at that, not expecting anything less.

"Of course my Lord, it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours."

He nodded and dismissed me.

Well, it would be a lot more annoying that I hoped. At least if Bastet was present, she could confirm that my new weapons and armors were to be given to nobody under her orders. But with her not here, Marduk would ask why he was not given the technology and may even order me to give it to him. I didn't know how to deal with such a situation without being killed so after Marduk left I reentered the palace to ask Lady Bastet her opinion.

She seemed busy, and quite surprised to see me.

"Lilith, are you not preparing yourself for tomorrow?"

I nodded, knowing that she didn't expect any less.

"Before the meeting, I ordered my first prime to prepare the troops just in case. I have a bit of a problem that would need your wisdom though my Lady. You ordered me to keep the technology I invented to myself, and with my troops fighting alongside Marduk's…"

She nodded and laid back on her throne, thinking.

"You know that he will order to give those technologies to him. The two kinds of armors, your rifle and heavy staff weapon isn't it? I see no problem with you giving those technologies to him. But insist on the fact that they are to stay secret. You may leave."

I bowed in front of her.

"Of course my Lady, thank you."

I left soon after that. Well, it would make things a bit less difficult at the very least.

* * *

Three hours later, we were at Marduk's domain on Bubastis, the standard Jaffa and scouts carrying the rations for the campaign. After all, the heavies couldn't carry anything more than their own equipment. At the very sight of my troops, Marduk frowned heavily and looked at me. He didn't even have to give the order, I knew what he wanted. I nodded silently and I made the troops enter the troopship. It was a bit of a snug fit, but we were able to arrange a single trip to bring them all on the Ha'tak.

I was soon following Marduk to his private chambers, knowing already of the discussion that would follow. Once inside, I made to explain myself but I didn't have the time. I was surprised by a powerful kara'kesh blast that sent me flying, the impact with the wall painfully cutting my respiration. As I was trying to catch my breath, I let out a loud scream as I felt a huge pain spike in my head, recognizing the torture mode of the weapon.

"I was a good Lord to you Lilith, and you betray me like that. What did you think, that I wouldn't see the better equipment and technology of your Jaffa? That I wouldn't care? You're my subordinate, my servant. I thought I wouldn't have to remind you of that, but it seemed that I was wrong."

I writhed on the ground, trying and not managing to defend myself. The pain was horrendous, and seemingly amplified by his anger. The torture continued for several minutes before he relented and stopped, leaving me a gasping mess on the floor. I simply laid there for a dozen or so seconds before managing to shakily stand up.

"So, what do you have to say for yourself Lilith?"

I panted heavily, resting against the wall.

"I… I presented this technology to Lady Bastet. It was her order that nobody else get a hold of it. But I" I swallowed, trying to control my breath. "I asked her before this trip. I was allowed to give the technology to you. Just you, nobody else, she was insistent."

He snarled but stayed his hand.

"Of course you would… I want that technology in here immediately."

I nodded without hesitation and shakily left his quarters. Damn, I didn't expect for him to fly the handle like that. There would be no major damage in the long term but I would be a mess for a short while. I got out my healing device and applied it to my head, stopping a great part of the pain and residual symptoms of the torture, before going to the area of the ship granted to my troops. The more I took time, the more he would be liable to torture me again. And I would try to avoid that. Very much.

Kyra was the one to welcome me once in our area of the ship and immediately saw that something was wrong. She went to my side at once and started to apply the healing device, finding the source of the trouble in a couple of seconds.

"My Lady, did he…?"

I chuckled dryly.

"Torture me? Why, yes, yes he did. Apparently seeing my Jaffa with a technology he didn't have didn't sit well with him. Have the Jaffa bring a complete armor, heavy armor, rifle and heavy ma'tok to his quarters as soon as you can. Like, now. I would prefer he didn't have any more opportunity to have fun with me."

Her eyes widened before narrowing into slits and she saluted me, before ordering two Jaffa nearby to bring the technology to Marduk. I looked at the woman next to me and smiled softly. It was nice to have her by my side. Or was it? I was starting to trust her, and I knew it was dangerous for me. The last time it happened didn't go so well.

I dwelt on it no longer and had her accompany me to my quarters, before giving her the order to have the troops continue their training as much as they could. I then crashed in my bed, asleep in a couple of minutes.

* * *

Fortunately for me, there was no other problem between Marduk and I during the rest of the trip, but the rare times that we met to talk about our course of action during the attack, I could feel that something was broken between us. We went from tentative allies to passive hostility. Still, I had to obey him so I did so.

Soon we found ourselves and two other Ha'tak belonging to Marduk above Eratna. The Goa'uld or Jaffas controlling this world probably knew already that we were there so there was no way to avoid conflict. My Jaffa were tasked to secure the naqahdah mines, which were obviously very well guarded. To Marduk's surprise and my Jaffa's obvious approval, I had decided to go and fight with them on the ground, I knew that I was ready to do so and that I would survive. A troopship would transport us a little while away, not very stealthily of course, and we would have to deal with any hostile encountered.

I had agreed with this plan, not that I had much of a choice, because it would give me and my Jaffa some time to prepare for combat and once we would have taken the mines it would give us a defensive position we would be able to fight from. As far as fights go, we would be in a very favorable position, and with our equipment and training, I knew my Jaffa would be able to hold that position.

* * *

Once on the ground and the troopship gone, the squad leaders, members of my guard, immediately ordered the scouts to recon and try to get a look for the enemy positions and more importantly the direction of the mines. The other squads stayed there in a defensive position, waiting for a word. One of the scouts reported a mid-sized Jaffa troop heading for our position. Around forty Jaffas. I knew which direction he went to which meant we had a way to organize an ambush.

The second scout who reported indicated he had found the mines just as the enemy group made contact with our positions. I couldn't even call that a fight, it was a slaughter. We outnumbered them more than two to one, had a better equipment and ambushed them. Each squad called for a group of specific targets which meant that our very first attack slaughtered the three fourth of the enemy force without them being able to retaliate. All in all, the ambush lasted fifteen seconds, with no casualty on our part.

I could see that my Jaffa had a very high morale due to this victory so I decided to capitalize on it. I told the scout of the position of the mine and had them recalled, before we marched toward our objective.

The majority of the scouts rejoined us before we reached the mines, and we waited for all of them to be there before attacking, knowing that we would need all the intelligence possible. The mining complex was huge, with several heavy turrets posted at strategic points. All in all it was pretty well thought. But an organized group striking at the same time toward all the turrets would be able to bypass it. And I had such an attack force.

I relayed the information toward my guard, and their answer of having thought of it themselves made me smile. They really were good at their jobs, and my training them had paid.

We struck all five turrets at the same time with heavy weapons, disabling them in a couple of seconds and killing their operators. The attack of the mines themselves was far messier. The enemy Jaffa were totally surprised by our move and were delayed in their reaction, which made it easier for us to take the barracks and supply depot. Unfortunately, the enemy had regrouped inside the mines themselves, which would make it difficult to uproot them.

Still, we went to work, one squad defending each of the secured objectives while the others went to attack the mines themselves and their defenders with a heavy plasma rain. A couple of my Jaffa were wounded, but we made short work of the enemy and soon I was totally in control of the mines. While my troops were cheering their victory without any loss on our side, I contacted Marduk.

"My Lord, the mines are under my control, the enemy has been eradicated."

He seemed pained as he answered.

"Lilith, there have been reinforcements, I've been trying to contact you for several minutes. Six enemy Ha'taks. We have to leave, we can't hold."

I widened my eyes at that. With the upgrades I made to his flagship and two other Ha'taks by his side, he couldn't win?

"My Lord, are you sure that you can't…"

I was interrupted.

"There is no way, good luck Lilith."

I ground my teeth together at that. That fucking coward, he decided to get rid of me like that? Because that was what it was. Letting me to die by myself. I bit down on my anger and replied emotionlessly.

"Save it, you do not mean it."

There was a few seconds of silence before our communication was cut. I looked at it wordlessly for a few seconds before letting out a rageful bellow, shocking my troops out of their celebrations.

"That fucking traitorous coward!"

I turned toward Kyra.

"There were reinforcements, six enemy Ha'taks. Marduk left us here to die."

I snarled in anger as much as she did at these news. This wasn't good at all and without air support we would be slaughtered if we tried to defend the mines or try to get to the gate.

"We abandon the mines and move toward the forest. If they don't know where we are they can't annihilate us with an orbital strike."

This comment of mine managed to snap my Jaffa out of their stupor and they obeyed quickly, abandoning the mines in an organized retreat, destroying any weapon left behind.

I knew there would be at least a thousand of Marduk's Jaffa on the ground, and the callous way with which he abandoned them did not sit well with me or my own troops. I could feel it in their movements, they were beyond angry with the callous treatment of their fellow warrior but stayed silent. It was the way of the Goa'uld to get rid of them as if they were defective toys.

I resolved myself to not act like that myself. There were always consequences to these kinds of actions and I knew that it would come to bite me in the ass later.

* * *

We quickly were hidden in the forest once again, needing a plan to survive and ultimately conquer the planet if it was possible. The biggest hurdle would be the Ha'taks though, and we needed to find a way to either disable them or take control of them. Easier said than done.

My first action was to send two scouts to find the stargate and monitor the amount of reinforcements we would have to face and the planet they were from. Such knowledge would be indispensable in the immediate future.

We also healed the Jaffa that were wounded in the attack against the mines while I was trying to formulate a plan. In the end, Maya and I only managed to see one way to win or even survive. We had to take the fight to them and control enough Ha'taks to make the others flee or destroy them. Then with the air support and the possibility to strike down any enemy entrenchment from space, it would be a matter of days to gain the control of the planet in its entirety. That and we would have access to gliders and Al'kesh. It was better to use them than an orbital strike right out of the bat. Less collateral damage.

There was also the matter of the allied troops still on the ground, but I couldn't bring myself to have them join me. They didn't have the training and team practice I made my troops do and I just wouldn't be able to trust them. Adding them to my troops would make them a liability, and liabilities were liable to get us killed. So we would need to do without them.

I turned toward my guard.

"Okay, if we want to have a chance to get out of here alive, we need to get to the Ha'taks. If they have any intelligence at all, they will cover the gate with numerous gliders to make an escape impossible. I sent two scouts to cover the gate and get us informed in the case there is a chance that we can get out of this planet safe, but for the moment I wouldn't count on it." I looked at all of them and I could see their full attention was on me, which brought a smile to my face. "The only way to get to the Ha'taks will be the ring transporters in the pyramid of this planet's Lord. I know that it was one of the priority targets of Marduk so we can expect the defense to be quite wrecked already, and if we are lucky it will still be in the hands of his Jaffa, but I wouldn't count on it too much. We will get there as discreetly as we can, avoiding the patrols and death gliders that must be patrolling here and there. If we want it to be a success, we need to be quick and stealthy."

The guard looked toward each other and nodded. They probably knew that it would be the only possible way to get out alive, and they also immediately understood that last statement of mine. The heavy assault Jaffa would stay behind, with a small token force of standard Jaffa to cover them. They would probably entrench themselves here in this forest and play the waiting game while we would be trying to get control of the ships. Not that I begrudged such a strategy, it was a good plan.

* * *

It was a couple of hours since the night had started and the fifty Jaffa that decided to take part in the attack and possible capture of the enemy Ha'taks were with me, in the forest not far from the pyramid. I had watched the defense of said building and I was pleased to see that it was pretty much pathetic. It had probably fallen into Kuro's hands again an hour or two before then. It was good. It meant that a swift enough attack would completely crumble the defenses and leave us free access to the pyramid and the ring transporters.

Before the attack, I brought my Guard apart from the others.

"Okay, there are six Ha'tak maximum in orbit, so it means that there can be two of you per attack group. I will personally lead the sixth group." I handed them five naqahdah throwing knifes, one for each group. "If there is a Goa'uld on one of those ships, he may have a personal shield. You probably think that it stops every weapon, but it's false. Very primitive weapons can go through it, so aim well and destroy the kara'kesh if you can with those. Once the kara'kesh is destroyed or the Goa'uld dead, you should have no problem taking control of the ship. I give you express authorization to kill any Goa'uld you encounter out there, so no need to ask or anything."

They seemed completely shaken by what I told them, and they were intelligent enough to understand that I was putting my live into their hands. If they so wanted, they would be able to kill me easily right then. I had to count on the fact that they had absolutely no reason to do so and that I would give them such information about myself would make them even more loyal to me. From the looks that I received soon after, it was exactly as I hoped.

'You are such a puppet mistress Lilith, do you really have to manipulate all of them?'

I turned my thoughts toward the amused voice of my host.

'Well, it is not the principal goal of me telling them this information, but I guess it's a pretty nice side effect.'

I could sense her agreement.

'Of course it is, but really, do you expect me to stay silent when such an occasion to tease you appears?'

I let out an amused snort at that, somewhat startling my troops.

'Of course not. Now hush, I don't want them to believe I am crazy.'

Her amused laugh was my only answer, and I couldn't help myself but smile.

"My Lady?"

That was Kyra, voicing her curiosity. I waved my hand in dismissal.

"Don't worry about that, I just thought about something amusing."

She raised an eyebrow at that but stayed silent. If I didn't tell her, then I probably didn't want her to know, which was true.

"So, we will attack as soon as possible. Usually, I would preconize an attack just before dawn to get the element of surprise, but they are greatly disorganized right now so we mustn't let them get back any order. Immediately send the scouts to spot all the defensive positions and assassinate all the sentries that they encounter. I want them to contact us in twenty minutes maximum. After that we will consider them dead and move on with the attack."

They nodded and moved to warn their squads of their jobs.

* * *

The next twenty minutes had been tense, with more than a couple of times when the scouts had to report being spotted. Fortunately, they were good enough warriors so that the alarm hadn't been raised and anyone who had seen them was dead. Still, the corpses were accumulating and it would not take very long before an alarm was raised.

I thus decided to move on with the attack itself. The goal was pretty much to rush toward the ring chambers and teleport the squads to the ships before anyone on the Ha'tak was warned and decided to blast the pyramid away from a distance.

The attack itself was fast, precise and merciless. As we did for the mine, all the defenses that were not destroyed by the scouts were targeted at first and obliterated in a heavy plasma fire. There were no heavy Jaffa, but the number and rate of fire of those who attacked those were sufficient to decimate the opposition.

With only a token of resistance left, we moved to attack the pyramid, running through the open field and hoping that no glider was nearby. We were lucky in that and managed to enter the pyramid before anyone showed up to stop us.

Once in there, the path was relatively short until we reached the ring chamber, and we made short work of the few Jaffa left to defend it.

It took me one minute to interrogate the system and get the coordinates to teleport my troops of all the five Ha'taks that were left into orbit above the pyramid. Once it was done, it was quick for me to divide the Guard, taking Kyra with me while the others were assigned together. Eili'ac, Ryala and Erena were put together to compensate their slightly lesser fighting ability. They had troops behind them so their intelligence, healing prowess and tactical mind would prove a terrifying combination for the enemy. For the other Ha'taks, it was only two members of my guard and their squads a Ha'tak.

I ordered them to keep the communication going so that everyone was warned of their progress, before starting to transport them into the ships.

The Jaffa didn't have a heavy equipment so I was able to send a squad per teleportation, and soon, in barely a minute, everyone was in their assigned ships. The most important part of the attack was starting.

* * *

It was nearly pathetic how little they were prepared for such an attack. I was always a partisan of planning for everything and then more to take into account what I couldn't imagine. For this or these Goa'uld to actually be this ill prepared for an infiltration was folly, and this folly would cost them their lives and their ships.

The travel toward the pel'tak was quiet, and we only encountered one small group of Jaffa that did not last three seconds against us.

There was a Goa'uld on the pel'tak, but he didn't even have a personal shield, and one zat'nik'tel shot fired by one of my scouts stunned him before he could even think to retaliate. I did not kill him since I needed some information, but I was not so gentle with his Jaffa guards. Soon the pel'tak was filled with the corpses of our enemies and the nauseating smell of their burns bodies. There were a couple of injuries in Kyra's squad, but nothing a short use of healing device couldn't take care of.

It took me ten seconds to seal the doors of the pel'tak and another ten to initiate the venting of the atmosphere.

Usually, I would try to go into the atmosphere to replenish the atmosphere of the ship, but I had to wait for the other team to be finished with their infiltration. Soon enough, the communicator turned on with its first message.

"Zyr'na here, the situation is under control. One Goa'uld dead and the ship's atmosphere is gone. One casualty in our team. Pretty heavy but she won't die. Zar'na is working on her while I'm making this call."

I smirked and nodded.

"Message received Zyr'na. Good job. We've completed our job too and we're waiting for the others to move to next stage."

The communicator stayed silent for a few seconds before an 'Acknowledged, over' ended the first report.

It was good, three more to go and until now there had been no serious casualty, only a couple wounded. I should have not thought about it as the next communication was a bit less joyous.

"Ayla calling, we took control of the ship and had to kill the Goa'uld in control. Two of ours have been killed, headshots, nothing we could do to save them."

I sighed and nodded, knowing that it was a really small price to pay for such a victory. Immediately after, the last two groups called and informed me that they took control of their ship with no casualty. Now the only thing we had to do was to warn the troops on the ground and take full control of the planet.

* * *

It took five days for me and my troops to kill all of Kuro and Marduk's Jaffa that I found. I was pretty reluctant to do so at first, but a talk with my personal Guard convinced me that a lot of the Jaffa under the orders of a Goa'uld would be loyal to him, nearly fanatically so at times, so I was risking rebellion if I decided to integrate those Jaffa into my army. And I was not eager to face a rebellion of any kind. Not after last time, not again.

I had also found the human settlements containing the slaves whom Kuro had mining the naqahdah for him. There was several towns, each containing between a hundred and a thousand souls, the bigger being some sort of capital of the planet inside which the Goa'uld ruling the planet had built a personal palace.

The slaves were exhausted and sick, with the ones who were not mining faring a little better but not by much. Apparently, they had been worked to the bone during the past year, much more than usually, and there had already been several dozen miners dead in the mines during that time period. They needed some rest, a decent food source and some treatments before I could send them back to work. Else, they would die miserably and not only they would lose their lives and be far less productive due to sickness, but there was also a risk of depopulation and me needing to grab some humans from another planet to replenish the population and stabilize it.

My Guard agreed that this was the best course of action and when they went to the different towns to tell the elders the news, they were extremely grateful for my mercy. That was not the point but it was always nice to have. I couldn't get too much goodwill from the people, and every last bit would be useful in the future to establish my domain and keep it under my control.

* * *

It had been a month since I took control of the planet, and I had yet to make any real improvement for the situation. I had my Jaffa go and assist the local populations with their health problems and food problems, and I had planned several improvements that would greatly facilitate the work in the mines for the humans, but I definitely lacked the tools to build them.

I had also received the reports of the two scouts I sent to monitor the gate. There had been several addresses that had been dialed, all but one of them being from planets on the list that was given to us. I didn't know about that last planet, but from the coordinates I had calculated that it was nearly at the other side of the galaxy, a trip which would take nearly two years of constant hyperdrive. That meant that if I wanted to take that unknown remote world for myself, I had to attack through the gate. My troops were not protected enough for such a thing to happen just yet. But that time would come and I would get capture that world too. It would make a marvelous secret base to develop my technologies on.

It was time for me to go back to Bubastis though. Bastet and her lieutenants should have been back so I would be able to announce my survival and capture of the planet.

I went to the gate with Kyra by my side and saluted the squad of heavy and standard Jaffa that was guarding it, before dialing Bubastis. Such a fascinating piece of technology the gate was, I would enjoy studying it in the future and try to decipher its secrets.

Soon enough, I was on Bastet's capital world and approached by some of her Jaffas, two bulky Jaffa women in ornate armor and wearing dangerous-looking claws. Kyra moved to intercept them but I held a hand for her to stop.

"Halt, who are you?"

I made my eyes flash in front of them and spoke, my Goa'uld voice booming inside the room holding the gate.

"I am Lilith, bring me to your Goddess, I have great news to announce to her."

They recognized me soon enough and bowed before asking us to follow them.

The walk was pretty short and soon we were back inside Bastet's throne room, facing her and her lieutenants whom, amusingly and coincidentally enough, were reunited to discuss the recent attack. Marduk was included of course and he didn't seem all that reassured that I survived.

I kneeled in front of her and bowed and so did Kyra several meters behind me, waiting for Bastet to talk to us.

"Lilith… How… unexpected it is to find you here. Marduk had announced you lost during the ambush of Kuro's forces above Eratna that forced him to flee."

I raised my head and looked upon her, a small smile on my face.

"It was a trying period indeed my Lady, but I have great news. I and my Jaffa have taken control of Eratna and the five Ha'tak in orbit above it. Unfortunately, I had to kill the Goa'ulds controlling them so that I could take over swiftly enough to avoid retaliation, but the situation is under control."

That brought some hisses of surprise in the room and Lady Bastet looked extremely pleased by me. It was very good for my future. She then looked smugly toward Marduk who had paled visibly during my report and opened her mouth to comment.

"Why, Marduk, I knew that your subordinate is competent, but I didn't know that she is more competent that you are." Her expression turned ugly after that. "I believe that there was more to the situation during the attack that you told me previously, and if there is something that I particularly hate, is when my so called loyal subordinates lie to me." She turned toward me once more. "How and why did he leave you on the planet?"

I knew that this marked the end of Marduk. With that comment, she made him an enemy of mine, one that I could not afford to let live. There was no mercy to give, and that little bout of torture during the trip didn't incite me to be very merciful with him.

"I had been deployed to the mines with my Jaffa to take control of them while his troops were attacking the pyramid containing the transport rings not far from the gate. My part of the attack was completed flawlessly and I reported to him my success when he announced to me that six enemy Ha'tak had jumped into the system and were attacking him, and that he had to leave. Usually, I wouldn't contest his decision to leave, but I worked on his flagship and I knew that such a ship is more powerful that the usual Ha'tak, and that with his flagship and two Ha'tak accompanying it he would have been more than able to defend until I and my troops get to the transport rings or even defeat the attacking Ha'tak."

I looked toward Marduk who was shaking in rage. If Lady Bastet did not kill him right then, I would have to take measures to protect myself. Bastet spoke again, frowning.

"Are you sure that his Ha'taks would have survived? And you said you captured five Ha'tak, not six."

I nodded.

"Yes I'm sure, I worked on them. He may have lost a standard Ha'tak or two if the enemy was intelligent and concentrated fire on them to destroy them, but his flagship's shields and weapons are more powerful than the standard Ha'tak and would have survived the onslaught, or at least been able to greatly cripple the attack force before fleeing. As for the six Ha'tak, only five were in orbit when I took control of them. One must have left to report the victory to Kuro maybe. I know that the gate was dialed several times while I was busy taking control of the planet, I had one Jaffa monitoring the possible reinforcements. She was too far to see the symbols though."

Bastet nodded and snapped her fingers, two of her Guards bringing Marduk in front of her.

"I find Lilith's words much more believable than what you told me happened, former Lieutenant Marduk." She then looked toward her Guards. "Take all his weapons and place him in a cell…" She looked viciously amused at that. "… it seems Tarvis will have a new visitor soon."

There was a shocked silence in the room right then, only broken by the sounds of Marduk frantically trying to escape this sordid fate. And I could understand him. Travis was Bastet's personal tropical hell, a jungle planet full of vicious predators each scarier and more dangerous than the other. She usually took her enemies on the planet with no weapons and let them loose, before gathering a party of herself, Relana her first prime and a handful of loyal Jaffa and starting the hunt. It was well known that if Bastet didn't kill them, the planet would take care of it for her. It was a harsh remembrance of how hard Bastet was with her subordinates though. If they simply didn't manage to do a task, they would be punished slightly, but lies and disloyalty were rewarded with death. And not a gentle one.

Still, such a fall from grace from Marduk was a bit surprising and knowing that I was indirectly the cause from it was pretty much shocking. It was not my place to comment on my Lady's decisions though, so I stayed silent. It paid, as she turned toward me with a satisfied smile.

"You did well Lilith, and I am not ungrateful. You may run Eratna in my name."

I was hoping for such a situation, but for it to happen was incredible. It meant that I was considered to become one of her lieutenants in the future, probably to replace Marduk. I had to give Bastet half of the naqahdah mined on the planet, but it wasn't all that important for the moment except for the fact that the mines were closed for the next year.

"I am immensely grateful for this gift my Lady, you will not regret it. I must inform you though, of a small detail. Even though Eratna possess several naqahdah mines, Kuro totally exhausted the slaves during the previous years. When I inspected their villages, I could see them on the verge of collapsing, plagued with sicknesses and various injuries. I believed that he expected this planet to fall and wanted to leave it barren. From my estimate, it will take close to a year for the population to be able to restart the mines and the production of naqahdah."

She frowned at that.

"Why don't you take some slaves from another planet for your use?"

I winced at that before looking sheepish.

"I hoped that with me saving their lives and treating them with some compassion they did not get from Kuro, they would become all the more loyal to me and thus I would avoid any rebellion in the future. Well, that and happy and healthy miners produce a lot more than unhappy and sick slaves."

She looked at me for a dozen seconds before nodding slowly.

"I didn't know that the rebellion of the Tau'ri had such an impact of you… It is of no consequence though, I do not see any problem with letting you have this year. I expect that this planet will greatly contribute in the naqahdah production of my domain in the coming centuries."

As always, she was reasonable toward her allies and merciless toward her enemies or traitors. I knew that working as her subordinate would be greatly profitable in the future. And the future starts now.

* * *

**So, that's it, Lilith finally got her first planet. And Marduk got out of the way. That was the part that I didn't plan for by the way. **

**As usual, don't hesitate to comment on this chapter, to leave constructive reviews and all. Flames will be ignored (I didn't even get one yet, yay!)**

**Ttfn!**


	6. Snakes in the grass

**Damn that chapter took some time to write. Well, that and I have some exams incoming fast. Competitive exams. So don't expect any new chapter before the beginning of July. I will not have forgotten the story or anything, but my future is in my hands and well, I plan to grasp it tightly and not let it go.**

**As for this chapter, for those who have read the original story, it's all new!**

**Yup, an original arc. With the Tok'ra. Saying no more, I won't spoil my own story. *grins***

**So now, thanks a lot everyone for your enthusiasm and your reviews!**

**I will try to answer your questions : **

**iitrnr : Yeah, there may have been some confusion there and I'm sorry. No, they know the truth of Lilith not being a God but Maya still being there is still an absolute secret. Nobody knows it.**

**grayiron : Sorry, but what? I just didn't understand what you wanted to ask.**

**Guest : Sorry, but nothing I can do about the difference between mines and (land)mines. And don't worry about my writing myself into a corner. I don't allow my muse to do anything that goes too far from the original plot. Slaying Marduk didn't have that many bad consequences.**

**OMAC001 : Indeed, one is far from enough. Her breaking away from Bastet isn't for a while.**

**SuperiorShortness : There may (or may not) be an alliance in the future between those two yes, but no, the parting of ways won't happen that way. **

**DarkFireAngel463 : I haven't planned any pairing for the moment. At all. And it won't be the focus point on this story. So no, however interesting a Bastet/Lilith pairing would be to write, it probably won't happen.**

**jabbarulez : Yeah, except Ne'tu don't try to actively kill the people on it. On Tarvis, there is the only species of carnivorous trees of the galaxy and numerous other dangerous predators. And that's even canon... I couldn't not use it.**

**Redhand : Thanks a lot (even if I thanked you in PM already :P) for the extensive and constructive criticism. I say that for the sake of those who read it, but some of Redhand's points have been taken into account and will be implemented in the future. Or started to be in this chapter.**

**Narf The Mouse : I thought it was coherent with typical Goa'uld behavior. The only mistake he made was to not ensure Lilith was dead, and this mistake cost him everything. If you tickle a Goa'uld's pride, he reacts really fast and really violently.**

**That's it for the reviews.**

**As usual, I own nothing, I only do this for my enjoyment and yours.**

**So, enjoy!**

* * *

**2983 BC, Eratna, Lilith's domain.**

* * *

It had been eight years since I was granted control over the planet and since I got out of Marduk's shadow to become one of Bastet's direct subordinates. I was not a lieutenant yet, of course, but I knew I was somewhat trusted, or at least as much as one Goa'uld could trust another. After a year to let the inhabitants of the planet rest and to have my Jaffa build some infrastructure to make the process of mining easier, the villagers were once again sent to the mines to work.

They were extremely reluctant to go back to work, but I assured them that it would not be a job nearly as hard as the former mining process and that no one should die except for some freak accident. It took the whole of three weeks for the angry rumors to quiet down and for all my subjects to understand that I meant what I did say.

To incite them to go work in the mine without protest, I ensured that their families would be well fed, showing them various technics to take care of the soil and insure that the harvest would feed every one of the villagers and my troops. I also had Erena travel to each village every month to cure the villagers that could not be healed by their primitive medicine.

I had thought to start educating the masses, but it was still too dangerous. Bastet was only a gate away and there were some things even her would not forgive. I had seen that with the not-so-tragic fate of my previous Lord, and I had no intention to become the next visitor to Bastet's playground.

The relationship I had with Maya grew too, and I knew that she was the only one I could fully trust with my life. It changed things in our behavior toward each other. We talked more, and I even started to give control back to her at times when I was in my laboratory. I hadn't known that the host was deprived of a lot of sensations when we Goa'uld took control forcefully, and it was with a great surprise and consternation that I found out that she tasted nothing of what I ate and felt nothing of what I touched in all the years that I controlled this body. On the other hand, I had the extreme amusement of seeing her fascinated by the feeling and taste of a single plate of food for at least an hour. It was cold by the time she was fully used to the sensations again, but it didn't matter to her, and I couldn't help but feel for all the hosts that were completely blocked by the other Goa'uld. I couldn't even imagine what it was to be in complete sensory deprivation for centuries or even millennia. Even constant torture would be better than that. I immediately tried and managed to grant her access to all of my senses as soon as I could, and I could feel her gratitude. It felt… nice.

As for matters of technology, I had made a few improvements, but not a lot. There was no technologic breakthrough for the moment but I had decided to go further in my pursuit of a precise weapon for long-ranged selective strikes and developed what was called by the Jaffa a sniper rifle. It was definitely different from the rest of the Goa'uld technology for a good reason. It was not. I had tried to create a plasma based sniper rifle but I faced a single problem each and every time. The plasma bolt was not very fast, he was bright so an alert target could see it coming and move, and above everything else had a limited range. After a certain distance, it cooled down slightly in contact with the air and lost coherency, resulting in the impossibility of a precise shot past a kilometer.

I thus had to use… primitive weapons. With projectiles. It was nearly laughable and I was about to dismiss the idea as soon as it went through my mind if it were not for Maya who reminded me that I was not one to let my silly pride get in the way of efficiency. So I tried. The precision necessitated a long weapon, the impact to pierce the naqahdah armor of Jaffa guards necessitated more than a simple explosive powder ammunition. I already had scopes powerful enough to do the job, and I just needed a stabilization system to facilitate the aim and the weapon would have been ready.

In the end, I decided to branch into magnetic technology. It was not something that was considered as worthy research by Goa'uld scientists, but the potential was there. I did not go very far with it, but with several electromagnets powered by a couple naqahdah cells, a single ten grams spherical grain of naqahdah could be fired at speeds bordering two hundred kilometers per second. Once again, naqahdah was instrumental in reaching such incredible high speeds. The fact that the material was a supraconductor helped greatly in creating monstrous magnetic fields to accelerate the bullet. I had to add a crystal computer in the cross of the new weapon to calculate the rapid fluctuations necessary to launch the supraconducting bullet out of the rifle, but the extremely rapid response time and natural properties of the material helped with the creation of the end product.

Unsurprisingly, nearly all the scouts fell in love with the finished weapon and asked for them to have access to it. It didn't have that much success otherwise, and I didn't expect it to. It was necessary though, and I watched with trepidation as the first tests were very conclusive at middle range but not so much at very long range. It still lacked a stabilizing system to lock the rifle in position.

I searched again and again for a technical solution, but it happened naturally. The scouts learned to stay absolutely still, they learned to control their respiration. They learned to shoot, and that problem didn't happen anymore. The maximum range increased daily, starting at the kilometer, then reaching the three kilometers range in a couple of years and finally stopping at an incredible thirteen kilometers. At that range, it was not the weapons' specifications that prevented any improvement but the human imperfections. Theoretically, the weapon could reach easily the hundred kilometers range, but at that point it would have to be controlled by machines and I absolutely refused to go there, not that I could. As much as I believed trusting Jaffa was risky, trusting machines was even worse.

I had a problem with simply giving this technology to Bastet this time though. The ability to kill someone from ten kilometers away was simply devastating and I couldn't risk it leaving my hands. I thus added a self-destruction mechanism with both a manual trigger and a fail-deadly dead-man switch calibrated for the user of each rifle. I wouldn't take any risk with this kind of technology. If a Goa'uld got this technology, it would be devastating. If the Tok'ra got it, the casualties they would be able to inflict on us would explode. This could not happen.

* * *

I had been asked by a messenger to go to Bubastis and present myself in front of Bastet as soon as I could. He was a male, but I knew that sometimes Bastet used the husbands and sons of her Guards to run some menial tasks and message delivery was one of these. I nodded my acknowledgement and left to prepare myself for the meeting.

A couple minutes afterwards, I left, telling Kyra that I would be gone for an hour at most. Lady Bastet's meetings were more often than not very short so I would be able to be back soon. The travel to the gate was pretty short and soon enough, I found myself on Bubastis, heading toward the palace. I was frowning when I entered though. The guards seemed pretty surprised that I was there, and usually Bastet warned them of her guests. A couple minutes later and I was in Bastet's throne room, where she was talking with some of her lieutenants.

She looked toward me and, seeing the expression of surprise on her face, I couldn't help but feel some dread.

"Lilith, what are you doing here?"

This pretty much summed up my thoughts at the moment, there was something really wrong with the situation.

"I… do not understand my Lady, one of your messenger Jaffa gave me a message to come here at once for a meeting." I told her the exact content of the message and the description of the messenger and she frowned.

"It's one of my messengers indeed, and that was the message that was sent to my lieutenants for today's meeting, but you were not on the recipient list."

Okay, something was very wrong, it was not like Bastet to make mistakes like that and I could see she was as confused as I was.

"Should I try to find him? I fear it's no simple mistake."

She shook her head.

"No need, he's a couple of rooms away in the palace." She turned toward her lieutenants. "We'll continue this later."

I hastily followed her as she strode from one room to the other until the moment she found the man. He hastily kneeled in front of Bastet.

"Harak, Lilith told me you invited her to this meeting. Is this true?"

He nodded.

"Yes Goddess, but I do not understand, her name was on the list."

She was extremely surprised at that.

"Show me."

He showed her a small datapad, containing a list of names and gate addresses.

"Indeed it is… and your name is the only one that's out of place Lilith. And that's no mistake, someone put it there deliberately. So, any idea who could have done that and why?"

I shook my head, confused.

"Of course not my Lady, I do not even know who has access to this kind of information, and let's be honest, the only kind of people who would be able to do that would be an enemy System Lord or the Tok'ra. I have made no enemies in the System Lords and I have nothing the… Tok'ra… wants…"

I actually paused there. That was wrong. All those new weapons I developed would probably interest the Tok'ra, and they would probably try something like that to get a hand on them. Except, Bastet and Marduk had access to those weapons so I would not be the only target and they could make some disappear relatively easily. The only thing they didn't have was my new sniper rifle.

I paled at that, dread threatening to make me gasp. Oh this was not good. This was not good at all. If they went with making me leave the planet, then they had a plan.

"Oh no, no, no, no, nonononononononono. I have to leave, I have to leave right now!"

Not even waiting for her approval, I ran outside, completely panicked. The fact that I wasn't stopped by her guards should have told me something was wrong but at that very moment I couldn't think. The Tok'ra with my new weapon was a nightmare waiting to happen, and I had to stop it if I could.

Soon enough, I was at the gate and was dialing it as fast as I could to reach Eratna. As soon as it dialed and the vortex settled, I rushed inside and found myself on my planet, scrambling to take a communicator to talk to Kyra.

"Kyra, answer now!"

I was far harsher that I used to be with her but I couldn't even think about being anything else right now.

"My Lady, is there a problem?"

I growled into the communicator.

"Has anyone accessed the unbound sniper weapon? The one I left for my future use."

She sounded very confused.

"Apart from you my Lady, nobody."

I paled even more at that.

"What do you mean apart from me? I was on Bubastis until now."

I could hear her hesitation and fear.

"But… you came back immediately, saying that Lady Bastet was aware of your weapon and asked for you to present it to her."

I actually swore at that piece of information and stayed silent for a few dozen seconds.

"My Lady?"

"Has the impostor left Kyra?"

She stayed silent for a couple of seconds before speaking again.

"Yes, she left through the gate."

I cut the communication, no sense letting Kyra hear what I would be doing. I just had barely enough senses left to do so. Once I had verified if was off, I let out a primitive bellow of rage that would probably have torn my host's vocal cords if I wasn't possessing her body. She was eerily silent in my mind as I worked toward destroying everything in front of me with kara'kesh kinetic blasts, ravaging the ground and uprooting trees.

I was stopped soon enough though, by a hand touching my shoulder, the golden claws adorning its fingers revealing the presence of a kara'kesh.

"Why, Lilith, I didn't know you to be able of such feats of rage. You seem so prim and proper every time you're in my company."

I turned, oh so slowly to find the presence of my Lady behind me. And she didn't look pleased.

"L-Lady Bastet."

Her mouth opened to growl a single word.

"Explain."

I closed my eyes and sighed, before nodding deciding to lie just enough to save my life.

"A few years ago, I reviewed the weapons at the disposition of my Jaffa and concluded that I had no long range weapon. I thus decided to create one. It took me a couple of years to understand that a precise infantry long ranged plasma weapon was impossible to create, so I settled for the next best thing. It's a somewhat primitive weapon, using projectiles. Except the projectiles are fired at speeds close to two hundred kilometers per second. And can pierce Jaffa armor easily. The weapon is still in its testing phase, that's why I didn't tell you about it, but after a couple years of training my best Jaffa are capable of performing a head-shot to a target thirteen kilometers away. It's a kinetic weapon so the bullet is blocked by our shields, but we can't have our shields up when we do not know we are in danger. For the Tok'ra to get a hold of this weapon is catastrophic."

Bastet was growling in anger right now, before backhanding me with such strength that I was sent to the ground.

"You fool, you create such weapons and let them accessible to the first Tok'ra that deceive you? We may suffer unacceptable losses to that scum thanks to you!"

I growled myself.

"I only had one weapon that was not protected by a complex security system designed to destroy a stolen weapon and the thief. I built it a couple of days ago and was about to bind it to myself today. How could they even know I had created it anyways!?"

Bastet snorted derisively.

"The Tok'ra scum planned their theft well. And you have some cleaning to do in your troops and this planet's population. So do I…" She growled at that. "I will ask of a meeting of the System Lords. I want you to bring one of your weapons and the designs. As much as I don't want to, they can't be left in the dark about this threat."

I very much feared for my life right now.

"Do… do I have to tell them it's one of my weapons my Lady? Can't we just say a Tok'ra attacked one of your underling and killed him with it before you captured the assassin?" She looked at me and I knew she could see my fear. "I don't want to be killed or become the Lord's pet weapon maker. And they will ask for the same improvements that I gave you."

She chuckled for a couple of seconds before viciously grabbing my chin with her clawed hand, cutting my skin and making my blood drip on her fingers.

"You're cute with your pleading Lilith, and I don't deal with being manipulated very well." She let me go quickly afterwards though. "But… you do have a point. I would prefer keeping the advantage for a while. My scientists were impressed by your designs, and it wouldn't do to lose you for the moment. Consider that your first and last mistake."

I nodded frantically.

"Of course my Lady, thank you for your mercy."

She chuckled and patted my cheek before moving toward the dialing device.

"You are a valuable subordinate Lilith. Be careful that your mistakes do not overweight your use to me."

I bowed until she left the planet and turned toward a section of the forest. I could feel them there, my Jaffa, so Bastet probably also knew that they were present. The first to approach me was Kyra and she was pretty hesitant. I could understand her though. I was bleeding and had been thoroughly humiliated in front of my own troops by Lady Bastet. Worse even, I deserved it. I made a mistake that would cost our side dearly.

I sighed and turned toward Kyra. I probably looked as exhausted as I felt at the moment.

"Kyra, talk to the scouts please, I want to know where the Tok'ra went. I doubt it'll be conclusive, but I have no other option. Fortunately, they have to configure the locking system before being able to use the weapon, but it must be in one of their labs being studied by their scientists."

She hesitated a little before nodding. I never said please before. I thanked her and anyone else I ordered to do something, but I never said please. And she knew that. All of them did. I suffered a huge blow today and I needed to rest. After all, Bastet dressed me down in front of my troops… I had to meditate and talk with Maya. Some said that with pride came the fall. Well, I had been arrogant and I reaped what I sowed.

* * *

I was meditating once again when I heard Maya's voice.

'Well, looks like we fucked up.'

I sighed internally.

'I fucked up yeah, I don't know why you would include yourself in this though. It was my security measures that didn't work… I still wonder how they managed to copy me though.'

I could sense her disagreement.

'No, you have done everything you could. The weapon should be locked and you couldn't avoid being called to Bubastis. You need to understand how they copied you if you want to avoid it in the future though. You think it's a holographic system?'

I was thoughtful about that.

'I don't think it's something so simple. Kyra wouldn't have been fooled by a simple holographic device. It had to be the image, the voice and my way of talking. That's a lot of information on me to gather and only my guard know me enough to know those details.'

Maya replied immediately.

'But your guard was chosen randomly, nearly all ten of them. Plus, they are Jaffa. Tok'ra have done a lot of infiltration, but according to the reports they never ever used Jaffa elements to do so. You can never guess if a Jaffa's loyalty is genuine or if he or she is loyal to their former master.'

I acknowledged that point.

'True, but in this case, what the Tok'ra did was impossible. How could she have fooled Kyra if she didn't have all those pieces of information? I mean, she didn't imagine it since the weapon disappeared right?'

Maya was silent at that, before answering me very slowly.

'Well, maybe she did. Or that is to say, someone else made her imagine it…'

My eyes widened at that.

'Drugs you think? A volatile compound to cloud the senses of the target?'

I could sense her affirmation.

'Yeah, the Goa'uld have drugs like that. If the Tok'ra wanted it to work on the short term, it wouldn't be that hard to have it synthesized. It would be totally different for long term infiltrations I guess, to completely change the memories of the victim would require to profoundly alter their brains and not give them a well-chosen hallucinogenic.'

I sent all my appreciation toward Maya.

'As always, you were extremely valuable Maya, thank you. I have to leave and see if I can isolate the compound in Kyra's bloodstream.'

She stayed silent but I could feel her approval and warmth. I never regretted to have let her free and happy. She really was my best subordinate, and dare I say my best and only friend.

* * *

I fortunately had all the equipment to make the analysis of Kyra's bloodstream and managed just in time to isolate the hallucinogenic composite responsible of fooling her. Unsurprisingly enough, Kyra had been extremely relieved to know that there was nothing she could have done to discover the treachery. Her own mind was supplying the disguise of the impostor, making it foolproof.

I also learned from the scouts I had watching the gate that the impostor disguised herself to look like me but that they didn't manage to see her face. They managed to get the gate address she fled to though, and I knew that I had to use this information. From the coordinates, it was pretty easy to calculate the position of the planet in the galaxy and I was unsurprised to see that it was nearly at the opposite from Eratna, in one of the outer arms of the galaxy.

This confused me though. If it was simply a transition world to make us lose her track and gate to their true base, why would she use a gate so far away from us? It could have been to try and fool us into sending an attack force there, but I just couldn't see the point. It was even more foolish to think that it was their real base. Or was it? I didn't want to just travel there through the gate to be immediately ambushed, captured and used as an information source before I'm killed if I was lucky.

I had several things to do, one of those being to warn Lady Bastet about this chemical. But at the same time, I had to try and do something to avoid being contaminated in the future. I knew that they had agents on this planet, and thus they would be warned that I tried to leave off-world through the gate. They wouldn't know what, but I also knew that to use the weapon they would need either I or a good engineer of their own. I knew they had scientists, this chemical all but proved it.

Due to its complexity, it probably couldn't be absorbed by the skin and thus had to be injected into the victim or breathed beforehand. I could nearly forget the injection theory immediately as it was simply a hallucinogenic and not a memory eraser. The victims would remember being injected with something and thus wouldn't trust the impostor. No, the compound was probably put into the air as soon as I left and then she strolled in, took my weapon and left.

Then I had to create a rebreather and there would be no problem. It was a relatively short task for me to design and create it to be conspicuous to wear. After a simple day I had three prototypes ready that would be theoretically able to filter the chemical and leave me in full control of my mind. I also made a new rifle that I locked onto my personal vitals. I would be able to deactivate the locking system once Bastet ask me to get the rifle even if I knew it would take some time.

My last words were to Kyra, after I gave her one of the rebreathers, my voice slightly distorted by the mask.

"Kyra, I will go to update Lady Bastet on the situation. When I come back, to prove I am myself, you will ask me for a password. I will not obey and walk toward you and then lightly punch your shoulder. With some luck, any wannabe infiltrator will open their mouth first and expose themselves. Shoot to capture if you think it's possible. If it isn't, shoot to kill."

She nodded and placed the mask I gave her on her face. I nodded back and left for Bubastis. I had the sniper rifle on my back, in all of its one and a half meter of glory, a zat'nik'tel at my waist and my customary two silver kara'kesh.

* * *

Ironically enough, since I had prepared for war there was no attack whatsoever and I soon found myself in front of Bastet who was pretty much surprised by all the weapons I was carrying.

"You know Lilith, when I asked you to come here with your new weapon, I didn't ask you to come here ready to start a war. It's a wonder that my guards let you go through. And what's with the ridiculous mask? You've never worn that before."

I chuckled mirthlessly at that and nodded.

"The weapons and the mask are for the very same reason. I found how the Tok'ra bypassed our security. It's a hallucinogenic chemical that confuse both human and Goa'uld minds enough to give any impostor their own alibi. Some semi convincing disguise and acting is enough to have a near indiscernible disguise. I still haven't found the Tok'ra agent in the local population though."

She was left pensive after that.

"I see, that's… ingenuous, and alarming. Do you think you can do something to counter it?"

I was a little embarrassed at that. With everything going on and my rebreather completed, I didn't even think of doing that.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. I don't have the necessary equipment and I never did this kind of research before but I guess that with some time I could do it."

She nodded at that.

"I guess you have the data on the chemical? I'll leave you to hunt the thief and reclaim your weapon while I'm letting my own scientists go at it. If they fail, I'll provide you the equipment to do the research yourself."

I nodded. That was more than reasonable.

"Understood my Lady."

A smirk appeared on her face.

"You have two weeks to bring me the agent on your planet and the stolen weapon. After that, unsavory things may happen to your population. If you do not know how to root out treason, I'll gladly show you."

I forced myself to show nothing outwardly but I knew this severely restricted my options, and I had to do distasteful things in order to get the traitor or traitors. I didn't even know if they were alone or numerous. I was more leaning toward a low number of operatives though, since if they were numerous they would have organized a direct attack instead of simply infiltrating my palace. It was their modus operandi.

"Acknowledged my Lady, I will start to work on it immediately."

Bastet stared at me with a cold smile on her face.

"Don't hesitate to do so. I'm eager to see how well you work under pressure. And I'm just as eager to get my hands on those traitors… Keep at least one for me, I'll do a similar purge in my palace so I'll probably get a traitor of my own and I want to compare notes."

Heh, if there was one thing I didn't want after me, that was Bastet angry at me. She could make a devastating opponent and her apparent kindness did nothing to hide her vicious ruthlessness when it came to her enemies.

"Then I should probably hope there are several traitors on my planet. I want a shot at them too."

She chuckled softly and looked at the weapon on my back.

"So, that's this sniper of yours hmm? Show it to me."

I nodded and took the weapon from my back. It was pretty long so I had to be careful but soon it was in my hands in front of Bastet.

"Here it is my Lady. I call it a sniper rifle. It's a peace of augmented primitive technology, using magnetic acceleration to fire bullets at tremendous speeds. The length of the weapon helps with its stability. It's an extremely loud weapon, since the bullets break the sound barrier, but the target is usually dead long before the sound reach it. The sound can only warn it if the shooter misses. As you can see, there are numerous systems integrated into the butt of the weapon, which are instrumental in its proper functioning. One of which is a security system acting as a dead-man fail deadly. If the user dies, the weapon is immediately destroyed. It can also be destroyed if it is sent too far from the user or if it is opened for retro-engineering."

She frowned at that last part.

"It's impressive, but I would have access to such weapons, and having to rely on only you building it would be unwise of me. You plan to leave some day after all."

I sighed at that.

"And you think I would not continue to honor any engagement we have once I'm sure you won't come after me anymore? Lady Bastet, I don't plan to betray the Goa'uld altogether you know..."

She actually snorted at that, surprising me greatly.

"You're not that dumb Lilith, despite your thirst for independence."

I grinned at that.

"Exactly. The problem is, even I who designed the weapon and all of its security systems was fooled by the Tok'ra, and I don't even have Goa'ulds in my entourage. I don't want to think of all the things that could happen in such a big palace. Not that I distrust you, but these scumbags are extremely competent at infiltration."

She snarled at that information.

"I know, I managed to find one spy, but I'm pretty sure there are others that are hidden in plain sight..." She sighed. "So be it, I'll trust you with that. I don't think it's necessary to tell you what to expect in case you don't honor my demands?"

I nodded, knowing perfectly I would visit Tarvis were that the case.

"Of course my Lady. I will simply charge production costs plus one kilogram of naqahdah for the weapons. It... takes some time to create one after all."

She tilted her head to the side before nodding.

"So be it. Weapons like that can be presented publicly as a tribute, and good control crystals are quite costly so your offer is reasonable. I'm sure though that there won't be a lot of my Jaffa that will opt to use the weapon. They prefer close combat to ranged assassination."

I chuckled a little at that.

"Of course they do, mines were like that at first too. I managed to convince some of my Jaffa to act as scouts though and after Eratna every one of my soldiers saw their uses. They were particularly thrilled to use this new weapon."

She nodded and let a small smile appear on her lips before grabbing the weapon and swiftly placing her thumb on the security pad, securing the weapon for herself. I was a bit surprise at the ease she had using some unknown technology, but rationalized this fact quickly as I realized that it was similar enough to conventional Goa'uld technology so as to deduct the correct utilization of the weapon.

"I thank you for the gift Lilith, but I have a meeting with my lieutenants soon. I wish you a good hunting."

I nodded and thanked her before leaving. I had some spies to hunt after all.

* * *

After a four days of brainstorming with Maya in my palace, I finally found a solution. We knew that the traitor had to have a naqahdah communicator to receive and relay information from and to his comrades. Now, a simple naqahdah scan would have been useless since it was a mining planet. It was literally covered in naqahdah and it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

No, what we would do was installing a couple receivers near each village, and announce to them Bastet decision. There would be some panic that was sure, but it was sure to rouse the spy into action, communicating with his or her comrades. Then, the receivers would be able to detect and locate the signal. Since there were three villages, I would station a fourth of my troops to each of them and the last fourth would guard the gate, both directly and from a distance thanks to the scouts and their sniper rifles.

Of course, to have the plan implemented, I had to have several scouts watch the outskirts of the villages to watch for anyone leaving. I also created three devices, which places strategically would detect any movement underground. The naqahdah mines had been closed and everyone was wondering what was happening.

I would implement it tonight, nearly a week to the hour after Bastet demanded results from me.

* * *

Things went far better that I could have hoped. Of course there was a panic and the suspicion was so high that had I not intervened the villagers would have started to kill each other right in front of me. But I had received very soon after countless bits of information, people leaving the villages fairly often without a good reason and so. Nearly everyone had something against them, but out of all of them, three had received an overwhelming number of accusations.

Now, I wasn't about to rush things and capture them all. Of course I would snatch them, but I wanted to discover the infrastructure of their network, so I had them watched discreetly. With the overabundance of Jaffa in the villages, it wasn't that hard to organize.

In the end, my troops caught the first one, a woman, red handed in her home with a communicator she was using to update her comrades off-world on the situation on Eratna. The Jaffa waited for her to finish and then acted to capture her. She tried to activate it to send a message to her comrades but was stunned by a dexterous scout with a zat'nik'tel. I had resolved to have her take a leave to see her family as a reward.

It took two days for the next one to be caught. This one, a man used some sort of gallery network to hide and reach several places, amongst which the mines and a hill not far from the test field where I first used the sniper. He was detected leaving the village underground by one of my device, followed thanks to the vibrations, and then caught as he was about to leave in direction of the gate.

That was pretty stupid of him, he would have had no chance to get past the guards, but who was I to refuse such a boon. After searching him, my guards found a canister off gas, which happened to be the hallucinogenic compound used in the theft. I could nearly understand him then. He would still have been stopped of course, but that would have been by a sniper round to the leg. Or legs. My scouts were not very subtle sometimes.

The last one definitely made me laugh. It was a young woman, around seventeen, quite pretty, and who was devilishly good at escaping the guards I had tailing her. Frustrated by the lack of success, I ended following her myself and it was only by some kind of miracle that I managed to not lose her.

In the end, when I saw her with a young man approximately of her age, a pretty handsome lumberjack, I couldn't help laughing incredulously, startling them. They were understandably confused, and I settled with explaining to them the suspicions that I had about the young woman thanks to her behavior.

She went pale at that, very pale, understanding that her little affair with the son of a rival family may have ended in a disaster for her. She promised to not be so foolish in the future and I let her be. My amusement was pretty much shared by my Guard when I told them about this anecdote.

Still, I had two Tok'ra spies, or rather sympathizers. I had checked and they were humans. Perfect spies, easily integrated in a local human population and avoiding any detection from the naqahdah in their blood.

* * *

All the device I had installed in the villages were hidden but not removed, as Maya and I agreed that it would be more beneficiary to keep vigilant in the case there were spies that weren't caught yet. But as things were, it was the end of that operation. I had caught two traitors, one I would keep, the woman, and the second I would give to Bastet, the man. It would probably be enough to calm Bastet and avoid the purge of the local population.

I ordered the woman searched thoroughly before she was sent into a secure cell guarded 24/7. It was a novel experience for the Guards and they did not enjoy it all that much but it didn't matter. I had to make sure there were no devices on her that would help her warn her comrades or anything.

There was another problem though, and that was to keep her alive. It was certain that if I was to interrogate her, accidents may happen and I would need to have a sarcophagus to keep her alive. I had checked her teeth, cut her fingernails and removed anything from her cell with which she could kill herself, but there was always a risk. It would cost me a lot of naqahdah but I had hopefully enough in my coffers to buy it. It would also give me a basis to experiment and try to remove the harmful effect of the sarcophagus.

* * *

I was thus in Bastet's throne room with the Tok'ra prisoner the very day her ultimatum ended. She looked at the prisoner and then toward me before laughing softly.

"Oh Lilith, you always deliver… or do you? I see a prisoner, a Tok'ra spy, but I see no stolen weapon. What do you say for yourself?"

I knew this was coming but I had no excuse for that.

"I am sorry my Lady, I managed to catch this spy and another, both simply humans, but I couldn't get the hand on the weapon. It was brought off-world. I have a gate address it may potentially be on but I do not have the numbers needed to conduct such an operation. If the weapon is somewhere, it would be guarded by numerous Tok'ra and sending the few troops I have there would be wasting resources."

She snarled but nodded at that.

"True, and you're not one to waste resources uselessly. Give me the address of the planet, I will send a couple ships there."

I shook my head at that.

"It would be useless, the planet is nearly at the other side of the galaxy. Our ships would take nearly two years to get there. The gate is the only reasonable way to get there."

She shook her head and looked toward the prisoner.

"Let's not talk about it anymore. Even if he will die here in this palace, giving a prisoner more information than necessary is stupid." She gave the silent prisoner a predatory grin. "I'm pretty sure I will… enjoy his company. He may not enjoy mine all that much though."

I grinned, but that grin fell shortly when he started to talk.

"You will try but I will tell you nothing." He then grinned and looked at me. "Well, nearly nothing. You hate us right? The Tok'ra and us who work for them?"

I frowned and so did Bastet, but we let him talk. Surely there was a point to what he was saying…

"I see you do… Well, I was sent to watch Kuro at first but when you took control of that planet, we were given some interesting information about you. One of those was pretty much surprising."

He probably knew something about myself that I hid to Bastet. It wasn't good but wasn't all that bad too. There wasn't a lot that I didn't tell her and nothing she would kill me for. Nobody but me knew about Maya so it couldn't be that.

"Lilith is a Tok'ra experiment."

I chocked on thin air at that, completely stunned by the announcement and knowing from his smug grin that it was probably true. Bastet had the same reaction as I did and it ended with us both answering in the same way at the same time.

"**WHAT!?"**

* * *

**So, there it is, my first cliffhanger. Surprise!**

**As usual, please review and criticise freely as long as it is constructive.**

**Ttfn!**


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